Got Fibromyalgia and Joint Hypermobility? Check for Mitral Valve Prolapse

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Mitral valve prolapse (leaky valve) is often not serious but it can be. If you have FM and joint hypermobility your risks of having MVP are increased ninefold.

Most people with mitral valve prolapse have no symptoms but can experience chest pain. MVP does not increase one's risk for a heart attack. Mitral valve prolapse is the most common cause of mitral regurgitation. That's a condition in which some blood flows backward through the mitral valve with each heartbeat. Over years, moderate or severe mitral regurgitation can cause weakness of the heart muscle, known ascongestive heart failure.

• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26216348

Clin Rheumatol. 2015 Jul 28. [Epub ahead of print] Is there any link between joint hypermobility and mitral valve prolapse in patients with fibromyalgiasyndrome? Kozanoglu E1, Coskun Benlidayi I, Eker Akilli R, Tasal A.Author information

The objective of the present study is to determine whether benign joint hypermobility syndrome (BJHS) modifies the risk of mitral valve prolapse (MVP) in patients with fibromyalgia (FM).

The frequencies of both MVP and BJHS seemed higher than the general population prevalence (p = 0.000 for both). The frequency of MVP was significantly higher in patients with BJHS than that in patients without BJHS (p = 0.028). In addition, BJHS was found to increase the risk of MVP approximately ninefold [odds ratio (OR) 8.7, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.1-70.7]. As a result, BJHS and MVP are both common in female patients with FM.

Moreover, among the female patients with FM, those with BJHS are about nine times more prone to MVP than those without BJHS. Cardiologic assessment might be added to the routine follow-up strategies in FM patients with BJHS in order to exclude the cardiac pathologies, especially MVP

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