Slowly progressive dementia and multiple cerebral cortical infarctions following mitral valve replacement.
We describe the clinicopathological findings of a woman, 83 years of age at the time of death, who demonstrated dementia and numerous cerebral infarctions. She had a history of repeated mitral valve replacements 15 and 13 years prior to death and showed a dull responsive state 1 month after the second operation. Thereafter, dementia manifested and slowly progressed. Brain computed tomography revealed cortical atrophy and ventricular dilatation. Histological examination revealed a large number of minute foci of infarction in the cerebral cortex. Such lesions may have developed in association with the valve replacement and resulted in progressive dementia.
Ishikawa
A
A
Department of Neurology, Nishi-Ojiya National Hospital, Japan. isikawaa@niigata.hosp.go.jp
Kakita
A
A
Goto
J
J
Tanaka
H
H
Takahashi
H
H
D000368:Aged; D001284:Atrophy; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D015161:Dementia, Multi-Infarct / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation; D006801:Humans; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008946:Mitral Valve Stenosis / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D012086:Reoperation; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed