This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Leo D. Galland, MD; Sidney M. Baker, MD; Robert K. McLellan, MD, MPH
Gesell Institute of Human Development New Haven, Conn

JAMA. 1985;254(3):358-359.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

We commend Dr Sataline¹ for his careful observation of an association between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and mitral valve prolapse syndrome (MVPS). While the English literature contains no reports of an association between these two syndromes, the French literature is rich with such an association, which can be best understood by viewing both IBS and MVPS as manifestations of a metabolic disorder that has been extensively described in France, and is known as constitutional chronic tetany, latent tetany syndrome (LTS), or spasmophilia.^2-5

Latent tetany syndrome is a physiological state of neuromuscular hyperexcitability that can be demonstrated on physical examination and by electromyography. A variant of Chvostek's sign, elicited by tapping the buccal branch of the facial nerve (facialis phenomenon), is positive in 80% of patients with LTS; electromyographically demonstrated Trousseau's phenomenon (usually without visible manifestation of Trousseau's sign) is demonstrable in almost all untreated patients. . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?