Assessment of the mechanism of mitral valve prolapse in children: An echocardiography study.

Background: The high complexity of mitral valve anatomy and function in mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is not yet fully understood.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze each part of the mitral valve apparatus in children to determine its impact on the presence of MVP and to assess the interaction between the coaptation length (CL) and mitral regurgitation severity.

Methods: We prospectively analyzed transthoracic echocardiograms of 60 patients with MVP (mean age 9.