title: Thrombus on the tricuspid valve in a patient with primary antiphospholipid syndrome after implantation of an inferior vena cave filter.
abstract: A 62-year-old woman with a history of pulmonary embolism and primary antiphospholipid syndrome (PAPS) with positivity for lupus anticoagulant was admitted to hospital with shortness of breath. A filter had been implanted in her inferior vena cava (IVC) 5 years previously. Emergency echocardiography revealed a lobulated, mobile echogenic mass on the tricuspid valve, and on pulmonary perfusion scintigraphy several apparently new defects were noted. Fibrinolytic therapy improved her symptoms and the pulmonary perfusion, then intravenous heparinization was continued for a further week. Repeat echocardiography performed on the 7th day of the admission showed complete disappearance of the mass, which was retrospectively diagnosed as a thrombus based on its resolution with fibrinolytic and anticoagulant therapies.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinicopathology, Showa University Fujigaoka Hospital, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Mio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ebato
authors.forename: Hitomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kitai
authors.forename: Hideko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kumakura
authors.forename: Yoshiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Youichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takeyama
mesh_terms: D016736:Antiphospholipid Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014264:Tricuspid Valve Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D016306:Vena Cava Filters / Q000009:adverse effects*