Mitral valve prolapse in rheumatic mitral stenosis.

Four adult women with histories of rheumatic fever and clinical findings of mitral stenosis and regurgitation had echocardiograms demonstrating moderately severe mitral stenosis (EF slope less than 20 mm/sec, mean left atrial size 3.0 cm/m2, mean anterior mitral leaflet excursion 25 mm) as well as typical mitral valve prolapse. Three patients underwent cardiac catheterization which confirmed the presence of mitral stenosis, as well as systolic prolapse and excessive scalloping of the mitral valve with no visible mitral calcium and no coronary artery disease. One patient had associated mild aortic stenosis and regurgitation. Two patients underwent mitral valve surgery which revealed anterior and posterior commissural fusion consistent with rheumatic disease and intact chordal apparatus. Both leaflets were large and the anterior leaflets were redundant. There were no vegetations. Pathology revealed myxomatous degeneration of the valve leaflets. In the absence of heavy calcification and thickening, the presence of mitral stenosis with commisural fusion does not exclude the possibility of a redundant mitral valve. When these entities coexist, systolic clicks may be absent.