Prevalence of Mitral Annulus Disjunction and Mitral Valve Prolapse in Patients With Idiopathic Ventricular Fibrillation

Clinical Perspective
What Is New?

• Idiopathic ventricular fibrillation has previously been associated with mitral valve prolapse.
• Recent research has suggested an association between ventricular arrhythmias and mitral annulus disjunction, independently of mitral valve prolapse.
• We found that mitral valve prolapse and mitral annulus disjunction are both significantly more prevalent in patients with idiopathic ventricular fibrillation than in controls.

What Are the Clinical Implications?

• Mitral annulus disjunction and mitral valve prolapse are frequently overlooked and deserve extra attention in the extensive screening of patients with idiopathic ventricular fibrillation.
  

All included subjects underwent CMR examination on a clinical 1.5T or 3T magnetic resonance scanner using electrocardiographic gating and a phased array cardiac receiver coil according to standardized cardiac protocols. Breath‐hold balanced steady‐state free‐precession cine images covering both the ventricles and atria were acquired (4‐chamber long‐axis view, 2‐ and 3‐chamber long‐axis left ventricle [LV] views and multislice full coverage of the LV in short‐axis orientation). The voxel size of the cine sequences used was dependent on the local clinical scan protocol and was typically around 1.5×1.5×5 to 8 mm3. In addition, late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging was performed at least 10 minutes after intravenous administration of a gadolinium‐based contrast agent in identical views. LGE imaging was not performed in control subjects.