The Marfan syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder of the connective tissue 
with mutations on the fibrillin-1 gene encoding for fibrillin, a major component 
of the extracellular microfibrils. The prevalence of the syndrome is 
7-17/100,000. The mean life expectancy for untreated patients with Marfan 
syndrome is 32 years with aortic dissection, aortic rupture or cardiac failure 
due to mitral and aortic valve regurgitation as the predominant cause of death 
in > 90% of the cases. In severely affected cases with neonatal Marfan syndrome, 
patients are likely to survive only a few months. According to the literature 
database the prevalence of aortic dilatation is 76%, 26% for aortic 
regurgitation, 62% for mitral valve prolapse, and 29% for mitral valve 
regurgitation in adult patients with classic Marfan syndrome. Pathogenesis and 
the natural cause of each cardiovascular manifestation is thoroughly discussed 
with the problems resulting from associated cardiac arrhythmias, sudden cardiac 
death, endocarditis, and less frequent cardiovascular manifestations of the 
Marfan syndrome. Special focus is placed on the analysis of cardiovascular 
complications during pregnancy.