title: Aortic valve replacement for Libman-Sacks endocarditis.
abstract: A 24-year-old man with systemic lupus erythematosus and antiphospholipid syndrome complicated by lupus nephritis presented with acute limb ischaemia secondary to an embolus. Following embolectomy, the patient underwent a transthoracic echocardiogram which revealed a large vegetation on all three cusps of the aortic valve. The patient was taken for an urgent aortic valve replacement with a mechanical valve. Cultures of one cusp remained sterile. Histopathological examination of the remaining two cusps revealed sterile fibrin-rich thrombotic vegetations characteristic of non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
authors.forename: Jack B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Keenan
authors.forename: Taufiek Konrad
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Rajab
authors.affiliation: Sarver Heart Center, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Janardhanan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Arizona Medical Center, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
authors.forename: Brandon T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Larsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
authors.forename: Zain
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Khalpey
mesh_terms: D016736:Antiphospholipid Syndrome / Q000150:complications; D001021:Aortic Valve; D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000601:surgery*; D004452:Echocardiography; D059905:Endocarditis, Non-Infective / Q000601:surgery*; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult