Influencia del sexo en la etiología de la insuficiencia mitral

Our aim was to investigate the prevalence of the different causes of severe mitral regurgitation and the influence of gender on that prevalence. We performed a prospective study of 272 consecutive patients with severe mitral regurgitation that had been detected echocardiographically. Their mean age was 70.2 (13.8) years, and 143 were women (52.6%). Atrial fibrillation was present in 52.9%, 72.7% presented with heart failure, and 21.0% with previous myocardial infarction. The most common etiological factor was rheumatic disease (in 26.5%), with the etiology being unclear in 32 patients (11.8%). Rheumatic disease was more frequent in women, at 35.7%, than in men, at 16.3%, whereas other etiologies were less frequent in women (P<.001). In all age groups, a rheumatic etiology was more frequent in women. Rheumatic heart disease remains the main cause of severe mitral regurgitation observed in women referred to hospitals similar to ours.