Increased mitral valve insufficiency during precordial "whoop"

A patient with rheumatic mitral valve stenosis and regurgitation presented with shortness of breath and a "noise" in her chest. Cardiac auscultation revealed an intermittent late systolic "whoop." An increase in severity of mitral valve insufficiency during the periods of "whoop" was observed by pulsed Doppler, hemodynamic tracings and left ventriculography.     

Ischaemic mitral insufficiency

Ischaemic mitral insufficiency (IMI) due to regurgitation of an anatomically normal valve, due to dysfunction directly related to myocardial ischaemia, is observed in over 20% of post-infarction patients and is associated with a doubling of the risk of death. The responsibility of ventricular remodelling with displacement of the papillary muscles in the genesis of IMI has been demonstrated experimentally. 3-D echocardiography has improved our understanding of the central role of geometrical changes of the subvalvular apparatus. The inconsistent results of surgery using an undersized mitral annulus have led to the search for alternative techniques. The correction of mitral insufficiency at coronary bypass surgery is a current topic of research. The application of new techniques of mitral valvuloplasty seems more effective and should provide an answer to this problem.     

Silent aortic insufficiency mimicking dilated cardiomyopathy

The authors report 6 cases of severe and silent aortic insufficiency having simulated in all aspects the picture of a dilated cardiomyopathy at the stage of cardiac insufficiency with primary manifestations. They insist on signs leading to the diagnosis of this clinical entity: past history of rheumatism, signs of electrical left ventricular hypertrophy in the absence of arterial hypertension, aortic calcifications and mostly presence of a discrete mitral diastolic fluttering during echocardiographic examination. Supra-sigmoid aortic angiography confirms the diagnosis of severe aortic regurgitation. In order to explain the non-perception of the murmur, they invoke the alteration of the transmission secondary to an air cushion (3 cases the association of another valvulopathy with murmur (1 case) and mainly the decrease of the leakage by increase of the left ventricular telediastolic pressure and the decrease of the diastolic aortic pressure, with diminution of the turbulences. The advantage of knowing this entity rests on the possibility of valve replacement, even at the stage of myocardial failure, since the satisfactory long-term post-operative evolution in 4 patients stands in contrast with the dangerous nature of a spontaneous evolution.     

Silent mitral stenosis masquerading as pulmonary neoplasm

We report the findings in a patient with severe silent mitral stenosis whose chest X-ray was interpreted to show post obstructive pneumonia due to a subcarinal mass.