Effect of imipramine on prolapsed mitral valves of patients with panic disorder

Does the association between mitral valve prolapse and panic disorder really exist?

OBJECTIVE

Although the possible relationship between panic disorder and mitral valve prolapse (MVP) attracted considerable research interest in the 1980s and 1990s, the reported prevalence of MVP in these patients has been inconsistent and widely variable. Clinical and epidemiologic studies have produced controversial data on possible association or definite causal relationship between these 2 entities. The primary objective of the present review was to summarize the current state of knowledge on the association between panic disorder and MVP, including the influence of diagnostic criteria for MVP on the controversial results.

DATA SOURCES

We searched MEDLINE, LILACS, and EMBASE databases using the keywords panic and mitral. Inclusion criteria were articles concerning the reciprocal association of MVP and panic disorder, published from the earliest dates available through December 2006.

STUDY SELECTION

All relevant articles published in English, Spanish, or Portuguese and reporting original data related to the association of MVP and panic disorder were included. Forty articles fulfilling the criteria for inclusion in this review were identified.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Even though the reported prevalence of MVP in panic disorder varied from 0% to 57%, a significant association between the 2 disorders was documented in 17 of the 40 studies. Such inconsistent results were due to sampling biases in case or control groups, widely different diagnostic criteria for MVP, and lack of reliability of MVP diagnosis. None of the reviewed studies used the current state-of-the-art diagnostic criteria for MVP to evaluate the volunteers. Apparently, the more elaborate the study methodology, the lower the chance to observe a significant relationship between these 2 conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

Published results are insufficient to definitely establish or to exclude an association between MVP and panic disorder. If any relationship does actually exist, it could be said to be infrequent and mainly occur in subjects with minor variants of MVP. To clarify this intriguing issue, future studies should mainly focus on the observed methodological biases and particularly should use the current criteria for MVP as the standard for evaluation.

Anxiety and mood disorder in young males with mitral valve prolapse

Objective

This study explored the prevalence of panic disorder and other psychiatric disorders in young Han Chinese males with mitral valve prolapse (MVP). With the factors of age, sex, and ethnicity controlled, the specific role of MVP in panic disorder was analyzed.

Methods

Subjects with chest pain aged between 18 and 25 years were assessed with the echocardiograph for MVP and the Chinese version of the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for panic disorder (n = 39).

Results

Of the 39 participants, 35.9% met the diagnosis of anxiety disorder, 46.2% met at least one criterion of anxiety disorder, and 23.1% met the diagnostic criteria of major depressive disorder. There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of panic disorder between one of the (8.3%) MVP patients, and two (7.4%) control participants.

Conclusions

There is a high prevalence of psychiatric disorder, including anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder, in those who report pain symptoms, so that diagnosis and treatment of these patients is of great importance. In addition, individuals with MVP did not have an increased risk for panic disorder. Whether MVP may be a modifier or mediating factor for panic disorder needs to be further assessed in a larger scale study.

Panic disorder in the general medical setting

There is a high prevalence of panic disorder in medical patients, as well as an association between panic disorder and high rates of utilization of medical services and excessive medical costs incurred from extensive medical workups. The association between panic disorder and specific cardiac, gastrointestinal, respiratory, and neurologic symptoms and disorders are described, and psychophysiological models attempting to account for the medical comorbidity associated with panic disorder are addressed. Finally, clinical trials investigating pharmacological and psychological interventions to treat the somatic symptoms with which patients with panic disorder often present are reviewed and critiqued, and productive avenues for further research on panic disorder in medical patients are recommended.

Mitral valve prolapse, panic disorder, and chest pain

Mitral valve prolapse is a common cardiac disorder that can readily be diagnosed by characteristic auscultatory and echocardiographic criteria. Although many diseases have been associated with mitral valve prolapse, most affected individuals have the primary form of the disorder. Mitral valve prolapse is an inherited condition commonly associated with myxomatous degeneration of the mitral valve and its support structures. Complications of mitral valve prolapse, including cardiac arrhythmias, sudden death, infective endocarditis, severe mitral regurgitation (with or without chordae tendineae rupture), and cerebral ischemic events, occur infrequently considering the wide prevalence of the disorder. Panic disorder is a specific type of anxiety disorder characterized by at least three panic attacks within a 3-week period or one panic attack followed by fear of subsequent panic attacks for at least 1 month. It too is a common condition with a prevalence and age and gender distribution similar to that of mitral valve prolapse. Panic disorder and mitral valve prolapse share many nonspecific symptoms, including chest pain or discomfort, palpitations, dyspnea, effort intolerance, and pre-syncope. Chest pain is the symptom in both conditions that most commonly brings the patient to medical attention. The clinical description of chest pain in patients with mitral valve prolapse is highly variable, possibly reflecting multiple etiologies. Chest pain in panic disorder is usually characterized as atypical angina pectoris and as such bears resemblance to the chest pain commonly described by patients with mitral valve prolapse. Multiple investigative attempts to elucidate the mechanism of chest pain in both conditions have failed to identify a unifying cause. Review of the literature leaves little doubt that mitral valve prolapse and panic disorder frequently co-occur. Given the similarities in their symptomatology, a high rate of co-occurrence is, in fact, entirely predictable. There is, however, no convincing evidence of a cause-effect relationship between the two disorders, nor has a single pathophysiologic or biochemical mechanism been identified that unites these two common conditions. Until specific biologic markers for these disorders are identified, it may be impossible to do so. The lack of a proven cause-and-effect relationship between mitral valve prolapse and panic disorder and the absence of a unifying mechanism do not diminish the clinical significance of the high rate of co-occurrence between the two conditions. Primary care physicians and cardiologists frequently encounter patients with mitral valve prolapse and nonspecific symptoms with no discernible objective cause who fail to respond to beta-blockade. Panic disorder should be considered as a possible explanation for symptoms in such patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Biological markers in panic states: lactate-induced panic and mitral valve prolapse

Anxious patients, and more specifically, patients experiencing panic attacks, are thought to have a significant biological component to their illness. This study looks at two promising biological markers associated with this patient population-mitral valve prolapse and lactate-induced panic. We present our findings, which further characterize clinical and biological aspects of these two markers.

Panics, prolapse, and PVCs

There is a group of patients who presents with intense anxiety and physical complaints suggestive of cardiac or gastrointestinal disease. These patients are more commonly women and complain of palpitations, lightheadedness, chest pains, and dyspnea. A work-up may reveal positive findings such as extrasystoles and mitral valve prolapse that appear to confirm the organic etiology of the symptoms. Evidence is presented that the positive findings serve to confuse the picture and are an impediment, rather than an aid, to the physician in making the correct diagnosis. Effective treatment using tricyclic antidepressants or monoamine oxidase inhibitors is suggested.

Mitral valve prolapse. Recognizing and treating its manifestations and complications

Mitral valve prolapse is a common, multisystem syndrome for which the myxomatous mitral valve provides an anatomic hallmark. Symptoms are often unrelated to the valvular abnormality and rarely hazardous and should generally be handled conservatively. In contrast, cardiovascular complications are not rare and should be anticipated and treated aggressively.