Neurocirculatory asthenia and mitral valve prolapse--two unrelated entities?

Patients with neurocirculatory asthenia share common symptoms with patients having evidence of mitral valve prolapse. A link between these two conditions has been suggested but never documented. We have evaluated the prevalence of mitral valve prolapse among 42 young soldiers suffering from the neurocirculatory asthenia syndrome, using auscultation and echocardiography to detect the mitral abnormality. Four of the 42 subjects with neurocirculatory asthenia had both auscultatory and ultrasonic evidence of mitral valve prolapse. Since a similar prevalence of mitral valve prolapse has been reported among populations of presumably healthy young males or females, we conclude that mitral valve prolapse and neurocirculatory asthenia do not appear to be related.