A continuous murmur.
A 61-year-old male with a history of a mechanical Bjork-Shiley aortic valve replacement in 1977 and repair of an ascending aortic root dissection in 1993, presented with a 2-week history of fatigue and exertional dyspnea. Echocardiography confirmed the presence of an aortic pseudoaneurysm with a fistulous connection between the aorta and right atrium, which subsequently underwent successful repair. Although there have been several cases describing the development of an aortic pseudoaneurysm after aortic dissection repair, our case is the first to describe an aorta-atrial fistula as a long-term complication of a previous aortic dissection repair.
Jassal
Davinder S
DS
Department of Cardiology, Cardiac Ultrasound Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. djassal@partners.org
Neilan
Tomas G
TG
Hung
Judy
J
D000784:Aortic Dissection / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D017541:Aneurysm, False / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D001011:Aorta / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D001014:Aortic Aneurysm / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology; D018618:Echocardiography, Doppler, Color; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D005402:Fistula / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D006337:Heart Murmurs / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged