title: "When Aneurysm Ain't Aneurysm": sinus of Valsalva aneurysm mimicked by healed abscess cavity under the aortic valve.
abstract: In a 70-year-old patient with severe aortic valve stenosis, preoperative standard imaging (transthoracic echocardiography and angiography) detected an unclear subannular cavity structure. Initially interpreted as an aneurysm of Valsalva, the structure was identified intraoperatively as a huge chronic abscess cavity and exclusion was carried out by pericardial patch plasty. This case draws attention to the importance of a differential diagnosis of an abscess due to infective endocarditis in cases of unclear subannular structures rashly diagnosed as aneurysm of Valsalva.
authors.affiliation: Cardiac and Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. maximilian_emmert@web.de
authors.forename: M Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Emmert
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Salzberg
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Plass
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Behjati
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Felix
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Falk
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Siclari
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gruenenfelder
mesh_terms: D000038:Abscess / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000601:surgery; D000368:Aged; D001014:Aortic Aneurysm / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000601:surgery; D002908:Chronic Disease; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D004696:Endocarditis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012850:Sinus of Valsalva / Q000473:pathology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome