A University of Adelaide-led team of researchers has found a link between sudden cardiac death (when the heart suddenly stops beating) and a common heart condition known as mitral valve prolapse that affects around 12 in every 1000 people worldwide.
A University of Adelaide-led team of researchers has found a link between sudden cardiac death (when the heart suddenly stops beating) and a common heart condition known as mitral valve prolapse that affects around 12 in every 1000 people worldwide.
In a paper, published in Heart, researchers analysed more than 7600 studies and found that 12% of victims of sudden cardiac death without a clear cause had mitral valve prolapse.
“Mitral valve prolapse is condition in which the leaflets of the valve (mitral valve) that lets blood flow from one chamber to another does not close smoothly or evenly, instead they bulge (prolapse) upward into the left atrium of the heart,” says lead researcher Dr Rajiv Mahajan, Cardiologist at the University of Adelaide’s Centre for Heart Rhythm Disorders.
“Over the years, there have been several case studies associating mitral valve prolapse with unexplained sudden cardiac death, however the link had not been confirmed,” Dr Mahajan says.
Read more at University of Adelaide
Image: Dr Rajiv Mahajan (Credit: University of Adelaide)
