Pregnancy can cause life threatening complications in women with mitral stenosis, and there is a substantial risk of fetal death if valvotomy under cardiopulmonary bypass is required. A patient is described in whom pulmonary oedema developed after delivery of her first child by caesarean section 13 months previously. Subsequent cardiac catheterisation showed severe mitral stenosis (valve area 0...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the cardiovascular findings and clinical follow-up of patients with Williams-Beuren syndrome. METHODS We studied 20 patients (11 males, mean age at diagnosis: 5.9 years old), assessed for cardiovascular abnormalities with electrocardiography and Doppler echocardiography. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to confirm the diagnosis of the syndrome. RESULT...

BACKGROUND Carcinoid tumor with consecutive endocardial fibroelastosis of the right heart, known as carcinoid heart valve disease (CHVD) or Hedinger's syndrome, is accompanied by combined right-sided valvular dysfunction with regurgitation and stenosis of the affected valves. Cardiac surgery with replacement of the tricuspid and/or pulmonary valve is an established therapeutic option for patien...

8. What is the pathophysiology of mitral stenosis? Increased left atrial pressure is necessary to push blood through a stenotic mitral valve from the left atrium into the left ventricle. Increased left atrial pressure is transmitted retrograde into the pulmonary veins and pulmonary capillaries and ultimately into the pulmonary arteries. It gives the patient a sensation of dyspnea. A left atrial...

A persistent post-operative pulmonary expiratory air leak after an anatomical pulmonary resection is usually managed conservatively, but can be associated with significant morbidity and increased costs. The use of bronchial valves is a minimally invasive method that may be an effective and safe treatment in this setting. In a prospective study, the clinical efficacy of intrabronchial valve trea...

M-mode echocardiograms performed in 192 infants and children with a clinical diagnosis of isolated patent ductus arteriosus were reviewed. Thirty-six (19 percent) had unequivocal diastolic pulmonary valve flutter. The diagnosis was confirmed in 39/192 patients. Of these, 15 (38 percent) had diastolic flutter of the pulmonary valve. Eight of these 15 patients were full-term infants and children ...

Quadricuspid pulmonary valve is a rare finding which is usually discovered post mortem (Hudson, 1965). Its incidence is variously reported from 1 case in 20,000 necropsies (Simonds, 1923) to 5 cases in 5000 necropsies (Dagnini, 1930). Most other reports suggest, however, that the latter figure is the more accurate (Simpson, 1898; Thilo, 1909; de Vries, 1918; Houck, 1929). In reviewing the subje...

Objective To describe potential intrapartum complications for fetuses affected by absent pulmonary valve syndrome. Study Design Two cases of intrapartum fetal death at full term were collected from our institution's labor and delivery unit records. Results In both cases of intrapartum fetal death, the fetuses had been diagnosed with absent pulmonary valve syndrome and had likely experienced acu...

A 41-year-old African male presented with worsening dyspnea and cachexia concerning for congestive heart failure. Transesophageal echocardiogram revealed a large mass attached to the aortic valve leaflet, mass attached to the flail anterior mitral valve leaflet, severe pulmonary hypertension and dilatation of the aortic root along with fistula between the right coronary aortic cusp and the righ...

Right sided endocarditis usually involves the tricuspid valve, predominantly in intravenous drug users. It is also occasionally acquired in hospital as a result of contaminated intravascular devices. Isolated infection of the pulmonary valve is rarely seen. A case of community acquired Staphylococcus aureus pulmonary valve endocarditis that caused diagnostic confusion is reported. This infectio...