Mechanical mitral valve prosthesis dysfunction from thrombus: transesophageal echocardiography has limitations.
Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is a useful clinical tool for the evaluation of a variety of cardiovascular lesions. In particular, TEE has been demonstrated to be a better diagnostic modality in the visualization of mechanical prosthetic heart valves than transthoracic echo-cardiography (TTE). Furthermore, TEE is noted to be particularly useful to evaluate the atrial surface of mitral prostheses, the usual location of thrombi or vegetations. We herein describe a patient with a dysfunctional St. Jude's mitral prosthesis resulting from an organized thrombus who underwent both TTE and TEE without visualization of the thrombus.
Perazella
M A
MA
Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
Frederick
W
W
Buller
G K
GK
Widman
S
S
D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000379:methods*; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000473:pathology; D008944:Mitral Valve Insufficiency / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology