Atrial endocarditis--the importance of the regurgitant jet lesion.
The jet lesions of valvular regurgitation or intracardiac shunts have been hypothesized to play an important role in the pathogenesis of endocarditis for many years. We describe a case of mitral valve endocarditis that involved the left atrium along the path of a jet lesion. This resulted in atrial endocarditis and pericarditis, both of which complicated her presentation and hospital course. Using transesophageal echocardiography, we were able to directly visualize the path and full extent of infection prior to surgery. Special attention should be focused upon the path of eccentric jets in order to fully define the extent of endocarditis.
Gregory
Shawn A
SA
Cardiology Division, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. skort123@pol.net
Yepes
Cesar B
CB
Byrne
John G
JG
D'Ambra
Michael N
MN
Chen
Ming Hui
MH
D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D018618:Echocardiography, Doppler, Color / Q000379:methods; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008944:Mitral Valve Insufficiency / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index