Myxoma of the aortic valve

Myxomatous tumours can arise from different cardiac structures. They have a special predilection for the left atrium and are an exceedingly uncommon finding in cardiac valves. We report the case of a 28-year old man who presented with a stroke and was found to have a mass arising from his aortic valve. The patient underwent a successful surgical excision of the aortic valve with the implantation of a mechanical prosthesis. The histopathological examination of the aortic valve confirmed the diagnosis of myxoma. Some aspects related to the diagnosis and management of this entity are discussed in this article.     

Myxoma of the tricuspid valve.

Myxomas of the intraventricular cavity are extremely rare, and those of right ventricular origin are the least frequent. Only three cases of myxoma of the tricuspid valve have so far been reported. In this communication a myxoma of the tricuspid valve in a 23-year-old woman is reported because of its unusual and interesting clinical presentation and the extreme rarity of this lesion.     

Papillary fibroelastoma of the tricuspid valve chordae

Papillary fibroelastoma (PFE) commonly involves the native valve tissue, especially that of the left side of the heart. PFE originates less commonly from the valve of the right side of the heart and rarely from the valve chordae. A 69-year-old man was admitted to our hospital complaining of chest discomfort in October 2005. Transthoracic echocardiography showed a highly mobile round mass measuring approximately 10 mm in diameter in the right ventricle. He underwent urgent surgery. The tumor was located at the middle of the tricuspid valve chordae and was excised under cardiopulmonary bypass with cardiac arrest. He had an uneventful recovery and was discharged from the hospital 15 days after surgery. The patient has been asymptomatic and remains well without tumor recurrence 7 months after surgery.     

Replacement of ruptured chordae tendineae of the mitral valve with autologous pericardial chordae.

Severe mitral regurgitation owing to rupture of chordae tendineae has been repaired in 10 patients by construction of new chordae from autologous pericardium. The site of rupture was the posterior leaflet in eight patients, the anterior leaflet in one patient, and both leaflets in one patient. Cardiac catheterization demonstrated severe mitral regurgitation (average 49%) and a left atrial V wave of 45 mm. Hg. The reconstruction was carried out with pericardium rolled into a chorda with one end attached to the appropriate papillary muscle and the other attached to the flail edge of the mitral valve leaflet being repaired. One patient died on the seventh postoperative day from pneumonia. The remaining nine patients are alive and well (Functional Class I) from 6 months to 9 1/2 years (average 3 years) following the operation. None requires anticoagulants.     

Myxoma of the aortic valve in a child

Myxomas are predominantly located in the right on left atrium. We report an unusual case of a myxoma adherent to the aortic valve. The child presented with symptoms of subaortic stenosis. By invasive methods a tumor was diagnosed located at the aortic valve. After surgical removal the child recovered soon and is doing well. According to our knowledge this is the first report of a myxoma of the aortic valve.     

Artificial mitral valve chordae replacement made simple

Mitral valve repair techniques are now widely applied in patients with myxomatous valve disease. The use of artificial chords to achieve correct height adjustment of the prolapsing anterior leaflet segment can often be challenging. We describe a simple method of artificial chord reconstruction performed after annuloplasty, which allows for easy identification of functional prolapse and accurate chordal height adjustment.     

Pre-measured artificial chordae for mitral valve repair

There is growing interest in the application of artificial chordae to correct mitral valve regurgitation caused by prolapse. Application of pre-measured artificial chordae facilitates creation of chordae of appropriate length. Herein we illustrate the technique for creation of pre-measured artificial chordae, documenting neo-chordal length and number in 50 patients with anterior leaflet prolapse, highlighting the need for chordae of more than one length in 14% of patients.     

Left atrial myxoma associated with ruptured chordae tendineae

A rare case of left atrial myxoma associated with ruptured chordae tendineae is presented. The patient was 70-year-old woman, and was diagnosed to have a left atrial myxoma. The myxoma was extirpated together with the atrial septum from which tumor developed. After removal of the myxoma, a ruptured strut chordae tendineae of anterior leaflet was also detected and resutured to the original papillary muscle. The cause of the torn chordae is presumed to be so-called "wrecking ball effect", and to be myxomatous degeneration of the valve.     

Myxoma of mitral valve associated with infective endocarditis

A 20-year-old man was hospitalized for persistent fever, embolism, and syncopal attack. Echocardiography demonstrated a tumor on the mitral posterior leaflet. It was removed under extracoporeal circulation following extirpation of thrombus in the right common iliac artery. The tumor consisted of myxoma and vegetation with bacterial colony. Myxoma and/or vegetation had destroyed the mitral posterior leaflet. Accordingly, it was necessary to perform mitral valve replacement. The postoperative course was uneventful. This is the 14th surgical case of mitral valve myxoma, and the first case of that associated with infective endocarditis.     

Artificial mitral valve chordae: experimental and clinical experience

Failure of mitral valve reconstructive procedures often may be ascribed to severe or progressive alterations of subvalvar apparatus. Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene sutures were used to replace anterior leaflet mitral valve chordae in 8 animals (hypertensive dogs and growing sheep). After the positive results obtained during a 13-month follow-up, 5-0 sutures of the same material were introduced in clinical practice to replace mitral valve chordae. Twelve patients had two to six anterior leaflet chordae replaced for degenerative or rheumatic disease. In 3 patients, the intraoperative result was not acceptable and a prosthetic valve was inserted during the same operation. One case of late failure has been recorded so far (18 months after the procedure), owing to rupture of a natural chorda shortened at operation. Since that event, we have implanted supportive artificial chordae in case of diffuse alteration of natural chordae. The remaining patients show satisfactory hemodynamic results, and no valve-related events have been recognized up to 30 months after operation. We suggest use of 5-0 polytetrafluoroethylene sutures in replacing anterior leaflet chordae in degenerative, rheumatic, and congenital mitral valve diseases.     

Myxoma of mitral valve associated with infective endocarditis.

A 20-year-old man was hospitalized for persistent fever, embolism, and syncopal attack. Echocardiography demonstrated a tumor on the mitral posterior leaflet. It was removed under extracorporeal circulation following extirpation of thrombus in the right common like artery. The tumor consisted of myxoma and vegetation with bacterial colony. Myxoma and/or vegetation had destroyed the mitral posterior leaflet. Accordingly, it was necessary to perform mitral valve replacement. The postoperative course was uneventful. This is the 14th surgical case of mitral valve myxoma, and the first case of that associated with infective endocarditis.     

Repair of congenitally absent chordae in a tricuspid valve leaflet with hypoplastic papillary muscle using artificial chordae

Isolated congenital tricuspid regurgitation without downward displacement of the leaflet is uncommon in adults, and repair of such valves often requires a procedure that is more complex than simple tricuspid annuloplasty. We describe a technique of tricuspid valvoplasty using the neo-papillary loop technique to reconstruct multiple artificial chords for isolated congenital tricuspid regurgitation associated with a dysplastic anterior leaflet with agenesis of the chordae tendineae and a hypoplastic anterior papillary muscle. This technique provides a simple and valuable option for the repair of dysplastic valves lacking chordae, even those with a hypoplastic papillary muscle.     

Application and adjustment of artificial chordae to the mitral valve using an approach through the aortic valve

Insertion of artificial chordae or shortening of native ones on the mitral valve with precise determination of their length can be done through the aortic annulus. This route was used to correct a prolapse of the anterior leaflet in 7 patients and resulted in stable repair with no residual insufficiency (4 patients) or trivial residual insufficiency (3 patients).