Sudden dilatation of right ventricle in two patients with thrombosis of a mitral Björk valve detected by echocardiography: different aspects of acute and chronic overloads of the right ventricle in these patients.
Acute thrombotic obstruction of disc valve prosthesis is a rare but catastrophic event without an immediate correct diagnosis and precocious treatment (Amman et al., 1984; Assanelli et al., 1986; Copans et al., 1980; Mann et al., 1986; Gibson et al., 1974; Johnson et al., 1973; Ledain et al., 1986). That is the main reason it is important to consider each helpful sign in order to recognize such a situation. We detected an important dilatation of the right ventricle in two patients with different stages of thrombosis of mitral Björk, the first one had also a chronic dilatation of the right ventricle due to tricuspid regurgitation. The clinical and pathophysiological aspects of these unusual situations are described in this article.
Assanelli
D
D
Division of Cardiac Surgery, University Hospital of Brescia, Italy.
Chiari
E
E
Marchini
A
A
Tsialtas
D
D
Marangoni
S
S
Zappa
C
C
Fucci
C
C
Zapra
C
C
D000328:Adult; D004108:Dilatation, Pathologic / Q000209:etiology; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006352:Heart Ventricles; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008943:Mitral Valve; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000175:diagnosis*