The Role of Mitral Valve Prolapse in Patients with Unexplained Cardiac Arrest

Abstract

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is thought to be one of the causes of unexplained cardiac arrest (UCA). However, previous studies are limited by the lack of a standardized evaluation of UCA and the absence of a control group to identify predictors of cardiac arrest. We performed a systematic review of studies that examined the yield UCA evaluation. We then reported the prevalence and characteristics of MVP patients from a multi-centre registry of patients with UCA. Lastly, we completed a protocol of a matched case-control study aiming at comparing echocardiographic features of MVP patients with and without cardiac arrest. As a result of these studies, we proposed a standardized algorithm for UCA evaluation and a definition for idiopathic ventricular fibrillation. Also, we reported the prevalence of MVP in patients with UCA and described few features that could potentially help distinguish patients with MVP at risk for cardiac arrest.