Project description:A 50-year-old man presented with an episode of chest pain. Cardiac magnetic resonance revealed the presence of a large ventricular septal aneurysm partially closing a perimembranous ventricular septal defect, prolapsing into the right ventricular outflow tract, and mimicking a mass. We illustrate the diagnostic approach and management of such ventricular septal aneurysms. (Level of Difficulty: Advanced.).
Project description:Innocent left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) membranes are a rare entity and found incidentally on echocardiography. The authors report a case of innocent LVOT membrane in a patient who was admitted with ischaemic stroke. Initial transthoracic echocardiography showed a possible valvular vegetation which was thought to be the cause of embolic stroke. Anticoagulation with coumadin and antibiotics were started. Subsequent Transesophageal echocardiography showed that it was more consistent with innocent LVOT membrane and not vegetation. Anticoagulation and antibiotics were discontinued, and on a follow-up over 5 years later, the membrane was stable in size and location without any complications.
Project description:Surgical and rarely transcatheter aortic valve replacement can be complicated by intracardiac fistula. Transcatheter closure of those shunts has been previously reported with favorable results. We describe a case of percutaneous closure of left ventricular outflow tract-to-left atrium fistula after surgical aortic valve replacement using an Amplatzer Vascular Plug II. (Level of Difficulty: Advanced.).
Project description:Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) has been reported with bio-prosthetic and mechanical mitral valves (MV), though it is more common with the former. The obstruction can be dynamic or fixed. We hereby report a case of fixed LVOTO following bio-prosthetic MV replacement (MVR).
Project description:Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) complicated with unstable angina (uAP) has not been described widely, but patients with these two conditions have several problems. Differentiation of the two conditions is also often difficult because the chest symptoms are similar. Moreover, nitrates are commonly used for ischemic heart disease, but have the effect of worsening LVOTO. We experienced three cases of dynamic LVOTO with a sigmoid-shaped septum, and without typical hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, that were complicated with uAP. In all cases, LVOTO was improved after initial percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for the left anterior descending artery lesion. Next, a dobutamine stress test was performed and LVOTO was provoked again in two cases, but not in a case with small acute myocardial infarction of the basal septum during PCI. All cases remained asymptomatic with beta-blocker therapy. Therefore, PCI and beta-blocker administration for LVOTO with uAP resulted in favorable clinical courses in all three cases. These outcomes suggest that revascularization including PCI should have priority in the therapeutic strategy for a case of acute coronary syndrome with LVOTO.
Project description:We present a 74-year-old woman with kyphosis and symptoms of pre/syncope. Heart catheterization revealed dynamic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (DLVOTO) with Brockenbrough Braunwald response only when kyphotic posture was assumed. She had a positive response to metoprolol. DLVOTO is a challenging diagnosis in the absence of resting LVOTO. (Level of Difficulty: Beginner.).
Project description:We describe the first case of successful management of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction developing late after transcatheter aortic valve replacement with right ventricular apical pacing. The possible mechanisms of obstruction resolution are described. (Level of Difficulty: Advanced.).
Project description:Prosthetic valve complications are not uncommon after valve replacement. In this paper we report a female patient who presented with aortic prosthetic valve endocarditis and echocardiographic appearance of periaortic abscess. After 6 weeks of antibiotic therapy, echocardiographic examination revealed resolution of abscess cavity and replacement with a clear blood-filled anechoic sac. Diagnosis was made by cardiac computed tomography, which showed a left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) pseudoaneurysm rather than an abscess, located just below the sewing ring of the prosthetic aortic valve. We assumed that either resolution of thrombus in LVOT pseudoaneurysm following effective warfarin therapy or clearance of infective content in pseudoaneurysm after co-administered antibiotics gave rise to change in echocardiographic characteristics in the perivalvular area.