title: Mitral valve prolapse and autonomic function in panic disorder.
abstract: We investigated the significance of mitral valve prolapse (MVP) and autonomic function in 121 patients diagnosed with panic disorder (PD). The incidence of MVP was higher in these patients (32.2%) than in the healthy controls (16.7%), but the difference was not significant. In the group with PD accompanied by depression, the MVP rate was 58.1%, significantly higher than the value of 25.7% observed in the PD patients without depression. The severity of MVP was mild; nearly all of the cases were silent, without cardiac murmur, and there was no problem with the left ventricular function. The coefficient of variation for R-R intervals on electrocardiograms (CV R-R) was smaller in patients with PD than in healthy controls. The CV R-R of PD patients was significantly lower in the group with MVP than in the group without MVP, suggesting a strong association with the parasympathetic nervous system. Since the CV R-R tended to decrease in the presence of depression, involvement of the parasympathetic nervous system was inferred.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Laboratory Medicine, Fukui Medical School, Matsuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hamada
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koshino
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Misawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Isaki
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gejyo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001342:Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008945:Mitral Valve Prolapse / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D010275:Parasympathetic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology