Is mitral valve prolapse a manifestation of adolescent growth spurt?

The exact aetiology of mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is unknown, although thi s is the most common cardiac valvular abnormality currently detected. MVP h as high incidence in young individuals, particularly during the second and third decades. These individuals are usually of a slender body habitus indi cating higher rates of linear growth, reflective of the adolescent growth s purt. MVP might represent the imbalance in the growth dynamics of the mitra l valve apparatus especially between the leaflets, chordae tendineae and th e rest of the heart. Several reports suggest the transient nature of MVP an d even complete disappearance. MVP with systolic click, but without a systo lic murmur signifying regurgitation may be considered as a manifestation of adolescent growth spurt and a normal variant transiently occurring during particular periods of lives of otherwise normal individuals. Strategies of identification of subsets of individuals likely to harbor the more sinister and progressive form of MVP are important and need to be developed. (C) 20 00 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.