Acute aortic regurgitation due to aortic dissection confined to the sinus of Valsalva.
A 34-year-old man with severe heart failure was diagnosed with acute aortic regurgitation (AR) by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). However, this differential diagnosis was incomplete. Only transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) revealed an intimal flap, leading to a diagnosis of Stanford type A aortic dissection. No abnormal findings were observed in the ascending aorta by contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT). Aortic dissection confined to the sinus of Valsalva has rarely been reported; however, TEE should still be considered for the differential diagnosis of acute AR, even if there is no evidence of dissection by TTE or contrast-enhanced CT.
Department of Cardiology, Saitama City Hospital, 2460 Mimuro, Midori-ku, Saitama City, Saitama, 336-8522, Japan. hkanki-circ@umin.net.
Hideaki
H
Kanki
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Saitama City Hospital, 2460 Mimuro, Midori-ku, Saitama City, Saitama, 336-8582, Japan.
Yoshiei
Y
Shimamura
Department of Cardiology, Saitama City Hospital, 2460 Mimuro, Midori-ku, Saitama City, Saitama, 336-8522, Japan.
Toshimi
T
Kageyama
Department of Cardiology, Saitama City Hospital, 2460 Mimuro, Midori-ku, Saitama City, Saitama, 336-8522, Japan.
Yuji
Y
Nagatomo
Department of Cardiology, Saitama City Hospital, 2460 Mimuro, Midori-ku, Saitama City, Saitama, 336-8522, Japan.
Takashi
T
Akima
Department of Cardiology, Saitama City Hospital, 2460 Mimuro, Midori-ku, Saitama City, Saitama, 336-8522, Japan.
Shiro
S
Ishikawa
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Saitama City Hospital, 2460 Mimuro, Midori-ku, Saitama City, Saitama, 336-8582, Japan.
Kazuma
K
Maisawa
Department of Cardiology, Saitama City Hospital, 2460 Mimuro, Midori-ku, Saitama City, Saitama, 336-8522, Japan.
Akira
A
Murayama
Acute aortic regurgitation; Aortic dissection; Contrast-enhanced computed tomography; Diagnosis; Transesophageal echocardiography