Comparison of echocardiography and angiography in determining the cause of severe aortic regurgitation

To assess the accuracy of echocardiography in determining the cause of aortic regurgitation M mode and cross sectional echocardiography were compared with angiography in 43 patients with predominant aortic regurgitation. Each patient had all three investigations performed during the same admission to hospital. In each instance, the cause of aortic regurgitation was confirmed at surgery or necropsy. Seventeen patients had rheumatic aortic valve disease, 13 bacterial endocarditis with a perforated or partially destroyed cusp, five a bicuspid aortic valve (four with a history of endocarditis), and eight aortic regurgitation secondary to aortic root dilatation or aneurysm. Overall sensitivity of echocardiography and aortography was 84% in determining the cause of aortic regurgitation. Thus, rheumatic valve disease and endocarditis appear to be the most common causes of severe aortic regurgitation in this hospital based population. Furthermore, echocardiography is a sensitive non-invasive technique for determining the cause of aortic regurgitation and allows differentiation of valvular from root causes of aortic regurgitation.     

Role of transoesophageal echocardiography in the diagnosis and management of aortic root abscess.

OBJECTIVE--To assess and compare the roles of transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography in the diagnosis and management of an aortic root abscess. DESIGN--To select patients with echocardiographic diagnosis of aortic valve endocarditis with and without an aortic root abscess and correlate this with a retrospective review of surgical and necropsy data. SETTING--Tertiary referral centre at a university teaching hospital. PATIENTS AND METHODS--34 patients with confirmed aortic valve endocarditis were treated over a four and a half year period. All patients underwent both transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography with 17 patients having biplane or multiplane imaging. RESULT--11 patients (32%) had an aortic root abscess. Transthoracic echocardiography identified four cases of aortic root abscess whereas transoesophageal echocardiography correctly detected all 11 cases and also detected complications including mitral aortic intervalvar fibrosa fistula in two patients and right atrial involvement in another two patients. Only biplane imaging was able to show an anterior aortic root abscess in one patient and the circumferential involvement of the aortic annulus in another two patients. All patients with an aortic root abscess were treated surgically after transoesophageal echocardiographic diagnosis. After operation, prosthetic aortic regurgitation was present in seven patients and a repeat operation was performed in three patients. Only transoesophageal echocardiography detected a postoperative aorto-right atrial fistula in two patients and recurrence of the root abscess in another. There were five deaths in hospital (45%). CONCLUSIONS--Compared with transthoracic echocardiography, transoesophageal echocardiography was more sensitive and more specific for the early diagnosis of aortic root abscess and its complications and facilitated both the preoperative and postoperative management of these patients. Biplane and multiplane imaging provide additional diagnostic information. All patients with suspected aortic valve endocarditis should have an early transoesophageal echocardiographic study.     

Etiology of aortic valve disease and recent changes in Japan:a study of 600 valve replacement cases

BACKGROUND: Recent studies on the etiology of aortic valve disease in the US showed a decrease in rheumatic valve disease and an increase in age-related degenerative disease. The purpose of this study was to describe the etiology of aortic valve disease and its temporal changes in Japan, based on a large number of cases. METHODS: The medical charts of all patients who underwent aortic valve replacement at our institute between 1977 and 1999 were reviewed. Among the 600 patients analyzed, 213 (36%) had pure aortic stenosis, 265 (44%) had pure aortic regurgitation, and 122 (20%) had combined stenosis and regurgitation. RESULTS: The causes were rheumatic change (49%), degenerative change (19%), bicuspid valves (18%), infective endocarditis (5%) and others (9%). Rheumatic disease continued to be the most common cause of aortic stenosis, but its frequency decreased from 100% in 1977-1979 to 37% in 1995-1999. In contrast, the frequency of degenerative change among stenotic valves increased recently from 11% in 1990-1994 to 30% in 1995-1999. Similarly, rheumatic disease remained to be the leading cause of aortic regurgitation, with a decline in frequency from 46% in 1985-1989 to 27% in 1995-1999. The percentage of degenerative change among regurgitant valves did not change appreciably. CONCLUSIONS: There was a shift in the causes of aortic valve disease, with a decrease in rheumatic disease and an increase in degenerative disease. This trend was similar to that observed in the US. These findings suggest the increasing importance of aortic valve disease due to degenerative change.     

M mode and two dimensional echocardiography in mitral and aortic regurgitation: Pre- and postoperative evaluation of volume overload of the left ventricle

Both M mode and two dimensional echocardiography are useful in determining the origin of mitral regurgitation. Two dimensional echocardiography appears to be superior to M mode echocardiography in the diagnosis of a flail leaflet, papillary muscle dysfunction and cleft mitral valve. It is possible to differentiate valvular causes from myocardial causes of regurgitation. Unfortunately, the severity of mitral regurgitation is difficult to quantify with either the M mode or the two dimensional technique. Echocardiography does allow differentiation of acute forms of mitral and aortic regurgitation from chronic volume overload of the left ventricle. Rupture of chordae tendineae is the most common cause of acute mitral regurgitation, and two dimensional echocardiography is 96 percent sensitive in its detection. Bacterial endocarditis, flail aortic valve and dissecting aneurysm as causes of acute aortic regurgitation can be detected with two dimensional echocardiography. Systolic left ventricular cavity dimension, percent fractional shortening and ejection fraction are important variables in predicting optimal time for surgery in patients with chronic aortic and mitral regurgitation. The noninvasive technique of echocardiography may be especially useful in decision making in the asymptomatic patient.     

Surgical pathology of the aortic valve: a morphologic study on 912 surgically excised valves]

A consecutive series of 912 surgically excised aortic valves was evaluated by means of macroscopic and histologic study. Pure aortic stenosis was diagnosed in 203 patients (p.) (22.25%), pure incompetence in 125 (13.72%) and combined dysfunction in 584 (64.03%). The diseases affecting the valves were: a) chronic rheumatic disease (593 p., 65%); b) dystrophic calcifications (214 p., 23%); c) noninflammatory aortic root disease (NIARD) and/or myxomatous infiltration of aortic cusps, floppy aortic valve (FAV) (55 p., 6%) d) infective endocarditis (50 p., 5.5%). Males outnumbered females with a ratio ranging from 2.4 (dystrophic calcific disease) to 1.6 (infective endocarditis). The mean age ranged from 37 +/- 7.5 (NIARD) to 61.2 +/- 6.3 (dystrophic calcific disease). Chronic rheumatic disease was the most frequent cause of stenoincompetence (542 p., 91.4%) while isolated stenosis was prevalently due to dystrophic calcification (172 p., 80.4%). The diseases causing isolated aortic incompetence were (in order of frequency): a) NIARD and/or FAV (55 p., 44%); b) infective endocarditis (50 p., 40%); and c) rheumatic disease (30 p., 16%). The 55 patients with NIARD and or FAV were divided into 3 groups: a) 23 p. with aortic root dilatation and normal cusps; b) 20 p. with aortic root dilatation and FAV; c) 12 p. with FAV but undilated aortic root. Aortic regurgitation was caused by cusp derangement in rheumatic disease (shortening, retraction) and infective endocarditis (perforations, erosions). Cusps diastasis and prolapse were the cause of regurgitation in aortic root dilatation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Heart valve involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus: an echocardiographic study]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the spectrum of morphologic and functional cardiac involvement in a selected population of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) by means of echocardiography. Thirteen patients (2 male and 11 female) affected by SLE, mean age 41.9 years (range, 21-64), underwent M-Mode, two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography. Eleven patients had renal disease and 3 of them were undergoing dialysis. One patient had findings of active disease. Six patients had systemic hypertension. None had a history suggestive of rheumatic fever or infective endocarditis. At echocardiographic study nine patients demonstrated findings of valvular involvement. These alterations were defined, according to the echocardiographic features, in two types: vegetation (verrucous Libman-Sacks endocarditis) and thickening. Vegetations were present in 6 patients, involving the mitral valve in all six and the aortic valve in three. The mitral valve vegetations were more frequent on the subannular portion of the posterior leaflet. Seven patients had valvular thickening: involvement of both mitral and aortic valve was present in five, and isolated mitral or aortic valve lesions in the remaining two patients. Combined valvular vegetation and thickening were observed in 4 patients. Eight patients had mild valvular dysfunction on Doppler examination: five isolated mitral regurgitation, two combined mitral and aortic regurgitation and one combined mitral stenosis and regurgitation. In agreement with previous reports, our study shows that valvular involvement in SLE is relatively frequent. Echocardiography can identify additional patterns of valvular lesions different from the known "verrucous Libman-Sacks endocarditis". The degree of valvular dysfunction is not important.     

Intractable infective endocarditis associated with supraaortic stenosis in Williams syndrome: a case report

A 17-year-old man with supravalvular aortic stenosis associated with Williams syndrome was admitted to our hospital for intensive treatment for intractable infective endocarditis. The patient had a history of percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty for aortic stenosis in 1992. He was well until late in 1999, when he had a high temperature after dental work-up. The diagnosis was infective endocarditis but antibiotic therapy was not effective. He was transferred to our clinic. Transthoracic echocardiography demonstrated bicuspid aortic valve, supraaortic stenosis, mitral valve prolapse with severe regurgitation and scattered vegetations on the anterior mitral and aortic valves. In addition, transesophageal echocardiography showed innumerable mobile vegetations located from Valsalva's sinus to the descending aorta. Aortic root and arch replacement with a homograft and mitral valve replacement with an artificial valve were successfully performed to eliminate the infective endocarditis. In the present patient, the flow jet across the supraaortic stenosis seemed to cause a predisposition to severe endocarditis.     

Aortic valve prolapse with aortic regurgitation assessed by Doppler color-flow echocardiography.

The incidence of and the Doppler color-flow echocardiographic characteristics of aortic valve prolapse with nonrheumatic aortic regurgitation were examined. Aortic valve prolapse was observed in 21 of 243 patients (15 men and 6 women) with aortic regurgitation as detected by Doppler color-flow echocardiography (rheumatic, 112; nonrheumatic, 131) in 1247 consecutive patients. Patients with aortic valve prolapse included three patients with essential hypertension and one with annuloaortic ectasia. The remaining 17 patients (7% of those with aortic regurgitation) had no other associated cardiovascular disease (idiopathic aortic valve prolapse). Prolapse of the mitral or the tricuspid valve or both was associated with aortic valve prolapse in seven patients. Aortic regurgitation jet was markedly deviated from the axis of left ventricular outflow tract toward the anterior mitral leaflet or the interventricular septum in 17 of 21 (81%) patients with aortic valve prolapse, whereas 28 of 110 (25%) patients with nonrheumatic aortic regurgitation without prolapse and 17 of 112 (15%) patients with rheumatic aortic regurgitation without prolapse showed the deviation of regurgitant jet (p < 0.001). In conclusion, idiopathic aortic valve prolapse is one of the significant causes of aortic regurgitation, and a marked deviation of regurgitant jet is a characteristic Doppler color-flow echocardiographic finding of aortic regurgitation that results from aortic valve prolapse.     

Echocardiographic identification of an aortic valve ring abscess

A valve ring abscess was diagnosed in four patients with a prosthetic aortic valve by identifying an echo-free space on two-dimensional echocardiography. Three of the patients presented with severe aortic regurgitation and congestive heart failure after an episode of endocarditis, but two of them did not have evidence of active endocarditis. The fourth patient had endocarditis, but no evidence of aortic regurgitation or heart failure. All four patients required valve replacement. Similar findings in all 11 previously reported cases suggest that a valve ring abscess can be diagnosed by two-dimensional echocardiography. It may be found without clinical evidence of endocarditis, in the absence of aortic regurgitation, without echocardiographically identifiable vegetations or during resolution of endocarditis.     

Prosthetic valve endocarditis caused by Streptococcus constellatus infection complicated with perivalvular abscess: serial observation by transesophageal echocardiography: a case report

A 61-year-old man was admitted to an associated hospital because of fever. He had undergone aortic valve and mitral valve replacement 6 years ago, because of rheumatic aortic valve stenosis, and mitral valve stenosis and regurgitation. He had prosthetic valve endocarditis caused by a rare Streptococcus constellatus infection complicated by multiple organ failure and systemic embolism. We considered that surgical treatment was difficult, and continued antibiotic treatment. The inflammatory reaction and fever improved. Prosthetic valve endocarditis is often difficult to identify and treat. Streptococcus constellatus infection is characterized by destruction and formation of abscess. We followed up the patient by transesophageal echocardiography, and observed the course of change of the paravalvular abscess around the aortic valve from echogenic to echolucent.     

Prevalence and clinical significance of aortic valve prolapse.

The prevalence and clinical significance of aortic valve prolapse were determined prospectively in 2000 consecutive patients undergoing routine clinical cross sectional echocardiography. Two hundred and twelve patients were excluded because the aortic cusps were not adequately visualised. Aortic valve prolapse was defined as downward displacement of cuspal material below a line joining the points of attachment of the aortic valve leaflets. Twenty four cases of aortic valve prolapse (1.2%) were identified. The patients were aged 12-64 years and nine were women. All had underlying valvar heart disease and the commonest lesion (in 11 cases) was prolapse of the larger cusp in bicuspid valves. Aortic valve prolapse was seen in four patients with mitral valve prolapse (two with severe regurgitation), one of whom had marfanoid aortic root dilatation. The remaining examples of aortic prolapse were seen in patients with various disorders including one with pulmonary atresia, two with aortic root disease (one with dissection and one with idiopathic dilatation), and one case of severe mitral regurgitation. Valves destroyed by infective endocarditis were seen in two cases. Aortic valve prolapse may be detected in various cardiac disorders and does not imply the presence of aortic regurgitation, but when bicuspid aortic valves are present it may well be important in producing such regurgitation. Although aortic valve prolapse may be associated with severe forms of mitral valve prolapse, these patients rarely have aortic regurgitation.     

Clinical characteristics of bicuspid aortic valves in surgical patients

Of 413 patients undergoing surgery for aortic valve disease, 42 were confirmed to have congenital bicuspid aortic valve. There were 24 males and 18 females, with a mean age of 54.9 +/- 14.6 years. The etiology of the surgical indications in patients with bicuspid valves were degeneration, rheumatic disease, and infectious endocarditis. Thirty-two patients had aortic stenosis and 10 had aortic regurgitation. Infective endocarditis was seen mainly in patients < or =50 years of age at the time of surgery, while degenerative aortic stenosis occurred more often in older patients. The annular diameter measured during surgery was significantly narrower in the 42 patients with bicuspid valves compared to 371 patients with tricuspid valves who underwent aortic valve replacement during the same period. It is important to prevent infectious endocarditis in younger patients diagnosed with bicuspid aortic valve, whereas careful attention should be paid to decalcification during surgery in older patients because the vast majority suffer from degenerative aortic stenosis.     

Prevalence and clinical significance of aortic valve prolapse

The prevalence and clinical significance of aortic valve prolapse were determined prospectively in 2000 consecutive patients undergoing routine clinical cross sectional echocardiography. Two hundred and twelve patients were excluded because the aortic cusps were not adequately visualised. Aortic valve prolapse was defined as downward displacement of cuspal material below a line joining the points of attachment of the aortic valve leaflets. Twenty four cases of aortic valve prolapse (1.2%) were identified. The patients were aged 12-64 years and nine were women. All had underlying valvar heart disease and the commonest lesion (in 11 cases) was prolapse of the larger cusp in bicuspid valves. Aortic valve prolapse was seen in four patients with mitral valve prolapse (two with severe regurgitation), one of whom had marfanoid aortic root dilatation. The remaining examples of aortic prolapse were seen in patients with various disorders including one with pulmonary atresia, two with aortic root disease (one with dissection and one with idiopathic dilatation), and one case of severe mitral regurgitation. Valves destroyed by infective endocarditis were seen in two cases. Aortic valve prolapse may be detected in various cardiac disorders and does not imply the presence of aortic regurgitation, but when bicuspid aortic valves are present it may well be important in producing such regurgitation. Although aortic valve prolapse may be associated with severe forms of mitral valve prolapse, these patients rarely have aortic regurgitation.     

Percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy in a patient with prosthetic aortic valve.

Patients with rheumatic valvular heart disease who have undergone valve surgery may present later with progression of disease in other valves. We report a case of successful percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy (PTMC) in a 58-year-old male who underwent aortic valve replacement (AVR) with a No. 23 Bj?rk-Shiley valve for severe rheumatic aortic regurgitation in 1982. At AVR, echocardiography revealed mild mitral stenosis (MS) and mitral valve area (MVA) 2.5 cm2. Over 18 years, the mitral valve disease progressed to severe MS and the patient presented with class III exertional dyspnea. He underwent successful PTMC (Inoue balloon technique). Post-procedure echocardiography revealed a MVA of 2.0cm2 and grade II mitral regurgitation. Anticoagulation management, infective endocarditis prophylaxis and procedural modifications are discussed.     

Pathology of aortic valve stenosis and pure aortic regurgitation a clinical morphologic assessment—part I

This two-part article examines the histologic and morphologic basis for stenotic and purely regurgitant aortic valves. Part I discusses stenotic aortic valves and Part II will discuss causes of purely regurgitant aortic valves. In over 95% of stenotic aortic valves, the etiology is one of three types: congenital (primarily bicuspid), degenerative, or rheumatic. Other rare causes of stenotic aortic valves include active infective endocarditis, homozygous type II hyperlipoproteinemia, and systemic lupus erythematosis. The causes of pure aortic regurgitation are multiple but can be separated into diseases affecting the valve (normal aorta) (infective endocarditis, congenital bicuspid, rheumatic, floppy), diseases affecting the walls of aorta (normal valve) (syphilis, Marfan's, dissection), disease affecting both aorta and valve (abnormal aorta, abnormal valve) (ankylosing spondylitis), and diseases affecting neither aorta nor valve (normal aorta, normal valve) (ventricular septal detect, systemic hypertension). Diseases affecting the aortic valve alone are the most common subgroup of conditions producing pure aortic valve regurgitation.     

A rare mechanism of aortic regurgitation in a young patient

A 19‐year‐old male patient was admitted to our institute with dyspnea. His medical history had no rheumatic fever or infective endocarditis. Physical examination revealed a diastolic murmur over the aortic area, rales of bilateral lungs. Bedside transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) revealed a severe aortic regurgitation (AR) without aortic valve stenosis and a moderately dilated left ventricle accompanied by an ejection fraction of 55%. The aortic valve could not be clearly demonstrated as either bicuspid or tricuspid. Congenital AR typically occurs in conjunction with an additional cardiac abnormality or aortic valve stenosis. Furthermore, bicuspid aortic valves are observed in the majority of patients. The aortic valve is created from the truncus ridge of the truncus arteriosus while the embryological development.     

Myxoid degeneration of the aortic valve and isolated severe aortic regurgitation

Clinical and pathologic data were reviewed in 55 patients who had valve replacement for pure aortic regurgitation (AR) during a 6-year period. The clinical histories established the cause for AR in 34 cases: 11 rheumatic, 13 infective endocarditis, 4 congenital, 4 associated with aortic aneurysms and 2 the Marfan syndrome. In the valves from the other 21 patients, 13 had myxoid degeneration, defined as significant disruption of the valve fibrosa and its replacement by acid mucopolysaccharides and cystic change. Myxoid degeneration was also the primary pathologic abnormality in the 2 patients with the Marfan's syndrome, in 3 patients with a history of rheumatic disease and in 1 patient with a history of infective endocarditis. The patients with myxoid degeneration of uncertain origin were predominantly elderly (average age 63 years), had a long-standing history of systemic hypertension (77%) and had coronary artery disease (46%); 85% were male. In these patients the replacement valves were not larger than those of the other groups studied, indicating that dilatation of the aortic anulus was not a significant factor in the pathogenesis of the valve disease. These findings indicate that myxoid degeneration of the aortic valve is common (36% of all valves examined) and, in many cases, may be secondary to long-standing systemic hypertension.     

Transoesophageal echocardiographic diagnosis of aortico-left atrial fistula in aortic valve endocarditis.

Intra-cardiac fistulas are rarely seen and they are estimated to account for <1% of all cases of infective endocarditis. Fistulization of paravalvular abscesses has been found in 6% to 9% of cases. This is a report of an unusual communication between the abscess region in the aortic root and the left atrium. A 44-year-old patient diagnosed with infective endocarditis had continuous fevers despite antibiotic therapy. Transoesophageal echocardiography revealed multiple vegetations on aortic valve, fistulization of an aortic root abscess to the left atrium and mitral regurgitation and moderate aortic regurgitation. At surgery, multiple vegetations on the aortic valve and a large abscess cavity establishing direct communication between aortic root and the left atrial cavity through a fistulous tract were discovered. This experience demonstrates the improved sensitivity and specificity of transoesophageal echocardiography in defining periannular extension of infective endocarditis.     

Two-dimensional echocardiographic preoperative prediction of prosthetic aortic valve size

Aortic root diameter was measured by two-dimensional (2DE) and M-mode echocardiography in 20 adult patients (aged 29 to 69 years) undergoing aortic valve replacement in order to predict prosthetic aortic valve size. Eight patients had predominantly aortic stenosis, six had chronic aortic regurgitation, and six had acute severe aortic regurgitation secondary to infective endocarditis. 2DE measurements of aortic anulus diameter, as determined from the parasternal long-axis view, demonstrated a high correlation with actual prosthetic valve size implanted at surgery (r = 0.89, p less than 0.001, SEE 0.68 mm). 2DE exactly predicted actual prosthetic valve size in 12 of 20 patients (60%), was within 1 mm of prosthetic valve size in 6 of 20 patients (30%), and was within 2 mm of prosthetic valve size in two patients. In contrast, M-mode echocardiography failed to significantly predict aortic valve size (r = 0.14) because of its lack of two-dimensional anatomic orientation. Thus 2DE can safely and accurately predict preoperatively prosthetic aortic valve size and thereby be of great value in helping to avoid the problem of prosthesis-patient mismatch.     

“Holes-in-one”: A case of concurrent windsock mitral valve,root abscess,and Gerbode defect

Infective endocarditis is a heterogeneous disease with a wide array of pathological lesions. We present a 55-year-old man with severe mitral and aortic regurgitation on transthoracic echocardiography. Transesophageal echocardiogram characterized the mechanisms detecting a windsock mitral valve perforation, aortic root abscess, and Gerbode ventricular septal defect, with the deep transgastric view showing all three pathologies concurrently. The etiologies of mitral valve perforation and Gerbode defects are discussed. Transesophageal echocardiography remains a critical imaging modality to diagnose and evaluate the extent of infective endocarditis with superior sensitivity to transthoracic echocardiography.