Prevalence of mitral valvar prolapse in young athletes

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundThe prevalence of mitral valvar prolapse has been reported to be between 0.6 and 21%. The goal of our study was to evaluate its prevalence in young athletes who underwent hand-held echocardiography as a screening mostly in southern California.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed 1742 echocardiograms that were performed as a part of a cardiac screening of teenage athletes. The total prevalence of mitral valvar prolapse was calculated and stratified based on gender.ResultsWe screened a total of 1172 male and 570 female high school athletes. The echocardiographic prevalence of mitral valvar prolapse was 0.9%. The prevalence was similar in both genders, at 1.2% in male and 0.7% in female athletes.ConclusionThe prevalence of mitral valvar prolapse in young athletes mostly in southern California was found to be less than 1%, and was similar in both genders.