Introduction: Prosthetic valve thrombosis is a rare and severe complication of valve replacement, most often encountered with a mechanical prosthesis. The significant morbidity and mortality associated with this condition warrant rapid diagnostic evaluation. Although surgery is the first-line therapy in symptomatic obstructive mechanical valve thrombosis, thrombolytic therapy has been used as a...

In a patient with mitral valve aneurysm precordial echocardiography suggested a mistaken diagnosis of infective endocarditis. Transoesophageal echocardiographic examination established the correct diagnosis, which was subsequently confirmed at operation. Transoesophageal echocardiography gives better resolution of lesions associated with the mitral valve than precordial examination and may impr...

To ascertain the effects of surgical closure of atrial septal defect on left ventricular geometry and degree of mitral prolapse, 14 patients with atrial septal defect were studied by cross-sectional and M-mode echocardiography preoperatively and 7 days postoperatively. Seven of the 14 patients (50%) had mitral valve prolapse preoperatively by cross-sectional echocardiography. To quantitate the ...

We report an unusual case of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction caused by accessory mitral valve tissue. This case illustrates the importance of transthoracic echocardiography in preoperative evaluation and the usefulness of transesophageal echocardiography for intraoperative assessment. If the accessory mitral valve has no functional significance it may be surgically excised, thereby r...

A 96-year-old woman developed hemiparesis 2 weeks after orthopedic surgery. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed multiple cerebral infarctions in the bilateral hemisphere. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a mobile structure attached to the anterior mitral leaflet that protruded toward the left ventricular outflow tract. The structure was identified as an accessory mitral valve. Doppler ec...

Libman-Sacks endocarditis (LSE) is a common manifestation of valve disease in antiphospholipid syndrome. Mitral valve LSE is characterized by verrucous vegetations on the atrial surfaces of valve leaflets. In this report, mitral valve LSE was visualized by real time 3D transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). 3D TEE provides a unique en face view of the mitral valve akin to a surgical or autopsy...

OBJECTIVES We investigated the role of three-dimensional echocardiography in assessing mitral valve anatomy in greater detail in patients immediately before and after balloon mitral valvuloplasty (BMV). BACKGROUND Three-dimensional echocardiography is a recently developed, evolving imaging technique that allows visualization of intracardiac structures from any perspective. METHODS We studie...

Transoesophageal echocardiography allows the precise assessment of mitral valve pathology. Perioperative assessment of the mitral valve provides valuable support for the cardiac surgical team in planning a repair or replacement of this unique three-dimensional structure. This article will review the echocardiographic methods and views that allow a systematic assessment of the mitral valve appar...

It is known that rheumatic heart disease frequently results in isolated mitral regurgitation without concomitant mitral stenosis, especially in countries with a high prevalence of rheumatic fever. However, more recent surgical pathologic data also have demonstrated a high incidence of mitral valve prolapse in cases of rheumatic heart disease, which suggests that rheumatic fever may be a cause o...

Congenital mitral ring is a rare type of congenital mitral stenosis. There are two types of mitral ring: the intramitral ring and the supramitral ring. Intramitral rings are often associated with complex valve pathology, and therefore have a worse prognosis than supramitral rings, in which the mitral apparatus is usually normal. The role of echocardiography in the evaluation of the mitral valve...