CARDIOVASCULAR REACTIVITY OF MITRAL-VALVE PROLAPSE PATIENTS DURING EXPERIMENTAL STRESS EXPOSURE - EVIDENCE FOR A FUNCTIONAL NATURE OF CARDIOVASCULAR SYMPTOMS
R. Dellechiaie et al., CARDIOVASCULAR REACTIVITY OF MITRAL-VALVE PROLAPSE PATIENTS DURING EXPERIMENTAL STRESS EXPOSURE - EVIDENCE FOR A FUNCTIONAL NATURE OF CARDIOVASCULAR SYMPTOMS, Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica, 93(6), 1996, pp. 434-441
We studied a group of 18 patients with mitral valve prolapse (MVP) and
a group of 20 healthy controls. Subjects in both groups were subjecte
d to a 1-h experimental stress exposure during which Holter-ECG monito
ring was performed and was then continued for the following 24 h. MVP
patients complained of significant cardiac palpitation during the stre
ss session, but ECG examination did not reveal significant inter-group
differences. However, the two groups did show statistically significa
nt differences in some psychometric measurements (Toronto Alexithymia
Scale, Anxiety Sensitivity Index, Fear Questionnaire, Beck Depression
Inventory, and Harm Avoidance subscale of Tridimensional Personality Q
uestionnaire) that underlie personality traits known to be important i
n the process fostering functional somatic symptoms, according to the
somatosensory amplification model. As no objective signs of cardiac rh
ythm modification were found in MVP patients under stress, we postulat
e that the symptoms for which these patients were referred have a func
tional nature, and that there is no pathogenetic link with the underly
ing valvular defect.