title: Quadricuspid pulmonary valve identified by transthoracic echocardiography.
abstract: The quadricuspid pulmonary valve is a rare congenital anomaly. It tends to be clinically quiescent. Its diagnosis by two-dimensional echocardiography could be very difficult because of the anatomical features. We report on the echocardiographic findings of a 66-year-old female patient with mitral and aortic regurgitation of rheumatic origin and severe pulmonary hypertension. There was an aneurismatic dilation of the pulmonary artery trunk allowing visualization of the short-axis view of the pulmonary valve. It showed four cusps of similar size and an important deficit of central coaptation. Very few cases of the quadricuspid pulmonary valve are documented in live patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Valme University Hospital, Seville, Spain. juanf_ap@yahoo.es
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fernández-Armenta
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Villagómez
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernández-Vivancos
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vázquez
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pastor
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D011664:Pulmonary Valve / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011665:Pulmonary Valve Insufficiency / Q000151:congenital* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*