Idiopathic mitral chordae rupture might not be really idiopathic, told Dr. Ling-Ping Lai from National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei. Hypertension contributes significantly to this disease.
In a cross-sectional study of 494 patients Dr. Lai and colleagues investigated the association between pre-existing hypertension and chordae tendineae rupture. The study included 351 idiopathic chordae tendineae rupture patients and 143 secondary idiopathic chordae tendineae rupture patients.
The authors reported that hypertension was 6.0 times more likely in patients with idiopathic chordae tendineae rupture group than patients with secondary chordae tendineae, and the idiopathic chordae tendineae rupture group (23.1%) had significantly more patients without adequate blood pressure control than in the secondary chordae tendineae rupture group (4.9%).
Patients with idiopathic chordae tendineae rupture had a significantly higher prevalence of hypertension (50.9% versus 14.9%) when compared to a different control group (patients presenting with bone fractures),
The researchers noted that the odds ratio for hypertension increased after adjustment for age in the comparison between the idiopathic chordae tendineae rupture group and the fracture group.
We think that the evidence is substantial, and the relationship between hypertension and chordae rupture is very sound, Dr. Lai said. We would like to stress the importance of recognizing and treating hypertension and add rupture of mitral chordae as a new member in the list of hypertension complications.
