Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography
Case ReportsAneurysm of the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve secondary to aortic valve endocarditis*,**
Section snippets
Case report
A 78-year-old man came to the emergency room with fever lasting 1 week, asthenia, weight loss, progressive dyspnea, oliguria, and edemas in the lower limbs. He had signs of left and right heart failure. A midsystolic and a high-frequency early diastolic murmur could be heard at the second right intercostal space and at the left sternal border; both were graded 2/6 in intensity. The chest x-ray film showed signs of heart failure and left pleural effusion. A transthoracic echocardiogram evidenced
Discussion
The AAML is a rare complication of aortic valve infective endocarditis, associated or not with a perforation of the mitral valve at the base of the aneurysm or its vicinity.2 Two possible mechanisms have been described for the development of an AAML: the first by direct extension of the aortic valve infection to the mitral valve, with abscess formation and subsequent spontaneous drainage; the second by an “infectious seeding” of the anterior mitral leaflet by the regurgitant aortic jet, with
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Cited by (0)
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Reprint requests: Manuel Rey, MD, Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Laboratory of Echocardiography, Cardiology Department, Avenida Reyes Católicos n° 2, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr 2000;13:1050-2.