Abstract

The prevalence of mitral valve prolapse was investigated in 126 patients with hyperthyroidism due to Graves' disease or toxic nodular goitre and that of hyperthyroidism in 64 patients with mitral valve prolapse. One hundred and eleven asymptomatic healthy subjects comprised a control group. The patients with hyperthyroidism were divided into those with Graves' disease and those with toxic nodular goitre. Of the group as whole, 12 (9.5%) patients had mitral valve prolapse compared with six (5.4%) in the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant. The prevalence of mitral valve prolapse in the patients with toxic goitre was also not significantly different from that in the controls. When the prevalence in the group with Graves' disease was compared with that in the control group (16.3% vs 5.4%) the difference was significant. Only one patient with mitral valve prolapse had hyperthyroidism.