Behavioral disturbance, embolism, and mitral stenosis

Abstract

The hypothesized equivalence of behavioral disturbances (BD) and embolic (E) events in predicting subsequent events in mitral stenosis patients was tested by a retrospective comparison of clinical courses. Behavioral disturbances, presenting in twenty patients, were followed by 9.6 BD, 13.8 E, and 5.3 fatal events per 100 patient years. Embolic events, presenting in thirty-three patients, were followed by 1.9 BD, 8.4. E, and 3.4 fatal events per 100 patient years. Forty-six patients presenting with neither event subsequently had 2.7 BD, 7.3 E, and 3.6 fatal events per 100 patients years. It is concluded that a behavioral disturbance in the setting of mitral stenosis is as predictive of an embolic event as is an embolic event itself.