Mitral valve prolapse and agoraphobia

Of 46 female agoraphobic patients, three had definite and four had probable mitral valve prolapse--a total prevalence of only 15%. There were no significant differences between patients with mitral valve prolapse and the rest of the sample on demographic and clinical variables, nor did the groups differ significantly on measures of psychological symptoms assessed before and after treatment. These negative findings support recent reports indicating that agoraphobia associated with mitral valve prolapse may be indistinguishable from agoraphobia without mitral valve prolapse.