Prevalence of Mitral Valve Prolapse and Congenital Bicuspid Aortic Valves in Black and White Patients Undergoing Cardiac Valve Operations

The risk factors for aortic and mitral valve diseases that require surgical repair such as congenital bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) and mitral valve prolapse include acquired clinical factors and genetic influences. Whether race affects the prevalence of certain valvular diseases has not been sufficiently investigated. Through the Cleveland Clinicʹs Cardiovascular Information Registry, we evaluated the data from 40,419 patients who had undergone aortic valve surgery, mitral valve surgery, and/or coronary artery bypass grafting from 1993 to 2007. Of these patients, 38,366 were white and 2,053 were black. The prospective evaluation of valvular disease was coded, identifying the etiology and morphology by echocardiographic, surgical, and pathologic inspection. At baseline, compared to white patients, the black patients were younger, more often women, had a greater body mass index, and a greater prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, tobacco use, and renal disease. The prevalence of congenital BAV and mitral valve prolapse was considerably lower in blacks than in whites (9% vs 25%, p <0.001, and 27% vs 52%, p <0.001, respectively), as was the presence of calcific aortic stenosis (14% vs 28%; p <0.001), pathologically determined aortic valve calcium (50% vs 67%; p <0.001), and mitral valve chordal rupture (13% vs 31%; p <0.001). In conclusion, in the present large surgical series, the valve etiologies and morphology differed among blacks and whites. Despite an adverse cardiovascular risk profile, blacks had a significantly lower prevalence of valvular calcium and degeneration than did the whites and a lower prevalence of congenital BAV and mitral valve prolapse. Our findings offer insight into the influence of race on the development of mitral valve disease and congenital BAV.