ROCHESTER, Minn. -- What's the biggest difference between the male heart and the female heart? Apparently, how it's treated in an emergency. A new study by the Mayo Clinic reveals disturbing evidence of higher mortality and lower surgery rates in women versus men with mitral valve prolapse.
Mitral valve prolapse occurs when the leaflets and supporting cords ofthe mitral valve of the heart have excessive tissue and weaken, leading to leakage (regurgitation), says senior author Maurice Enriquez-Sarano, M.D., a cardiologist at Mayo Clinic. Mitral valve prolapse affects approximately 150 million people worldwide and often requires cardiac surgery, preferably valve repair rather than replacement, to restore life expectancy of patients with severe leakage.
This retrospective study examined more than 8,000 patients (4,461 women and 3,768 men) -- all patients at Mayo Clinic diagnosed by echocardiography with mitral valve prolapse over 10 years (1989 to 1998).
"This study is significant because it allowed us to look at a large group of patients affected by mitral valve prolapse and examine subtle sex-specific differences that may have been overlooked in the past," Dr. Enriquez-Sarano says.
Disturbing differences were observed in men and women with moderate or severe regurgitation -- when the mitral valve doesn't close tightly and leaks, with blood flowing backward into the left atrium.
