1/252. Gaucher's disease with valve calcification: possible role of Gaucher cells, bone matrix proteins and integrins.Gaucher's disease, an autosomal recessive storage disease, leads to deposition of glucocerebrosides in various organs, especially those of the reticuloendothelial system. The heart is not thought to be frequently involved and studies of patients with cardiac involvement have concentrated on myocardial involvement. Despite careful prior investigation Gaucher cells have never been detected in the valves of these patients. Pathological findings of a patient with Gaucher's disease, type IIIc, with prominent cardiac valvular involvement are reported and, for the first time, the presence of Gaucher cells in the valve tissue is documented. There is evidence that the pathogenesis of the valvular injury may be by way of a cell-mediated mechanism involving bone matrix proteins and integrins.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = cardiac (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/252. Neoplastic thrombotic endocarditis of the tricuspid valve in a patient with carcinoma of the thyroid. Report of a case.A rare case of neoplastic thrombotic endocarditis of the tricuspid valve in a patient with poorly differentiated follicular carcinoma of the thyroid is described. Although some previous reports documented extension of the follicular thyroid carcinoma into the great veins of the neck to the right cardiac chambers, this seems to be the first report of a neoplastic thrombotic lesion of the tricuspid valve in a patient with thyroid carcinoma. In our institute, where about 2,500 autopsies are performed yearly, and about 600 valvular lesions are discovered, such a lesion was never detected. In patients with carcinoma, a neoplastic thrombotic endocarditis may be a source of microembolic neoplastic spread leading to a possible pulmonary colonisation.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = cardiac (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/252. diagnosis of accessory mitral valve tissue by transesophageal echocardiography.Accessory mitral valve tissue is a rare cause of intracardiac mass and subvalvular left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. The preoperative diagnosis of this congenital anomaly has been facilitated by transthoracic two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography. However, transthoracic two-dimensional echocardiography cannot identify or correctly diagnose all cases of accessory mitral valve tissue. We report a patient in whom an intracardiac mass detected by transthoracic echocardiography was definitively diagnosed as accessory mitral valve tissue by transesophageal echocardiography.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = cardiac (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/252. Spontaneous native aortic valve thrombosis.Spontaneous thrombosis of a native aortic valve is an uncommon event that usually follows local trauma, such as cardiac surgery or left heart catheterization, or occurs as a complication of bacterial endocarditis. We report the case of a 65-year-old woman with a history of retinal artery occlusion and severe aortic valve stenosis, in whom transesophageal echocardiography revealed a mobile mass attached to the ventricular surface of the aortic valve. There was no evidence of any hypercoagulable state or infection process. Surgery was performed and a severely stenotic valve resected; a partially organized and firmly adherent free-floating thrombotic mass was observed on the ventricular surface of the aortic valve. Histologic examination demonstrated an organized thrombus. Eleven months after surgery the patient is doing well.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = cardiac (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/252. Localized intraoperative cardiac tamponade.A 65-year-old lady had undergone mitral and aortic valve replacement following an open mitral valvotomy and aortic valve exploration 5 years earlier. At reoperation, following sternotomy, extensive adhesions were encountered and it was decided to perform minimal dissection of the heart. Both the aortic and mitral valves were replaced using 23 mm and 29 mm St. Jude bileaflet valves, respectively. At the end of the procedure it was difficult to wean the patient off bypass as her mean arterial pressure dropped and the heart became dilated. It was found that a tamponade had developed, as a result of bleeding from the vent site in the pulmonary artery, and dissected a plane between the heart and the adherent pericardium. Her condition improved dramatically as the tamponade was released and she came off cardiopulmonary bypass with no inotropic support.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = cardiac (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/252. Use of polymerase chain reaction for citrate synthase gene to diagnose bartonella quintana endocarditis.We describe aortic valve endocarditis caused by bartonella quintana in a 31-year-old man. The diagnosis was made on the basis of polymerase chain reaction amplification of the B quintana citrate synthase gene from cardiac valve tissue, the compatibility of histochemical stains of cardiac valve tissue, and serologic studies.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = cardiac (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/252. Inverse paradoxical embolism in a patient on chronic hemodialysis with aortic bacterial endocarditis.We present a 45-year-old patient on chronic hemodialysis who suffered aortic endocarditis by staphylococcus haemolyticus after bacteremia associated with a venous catheter, which was used temporarily during the maturing phase of a Cimino-Brescia arteriovenous fistula in the left forearm. Three weeks after starting antibiotic therapy, the patient suffered a septic pulmonary embolism. The catheter had been removed 4 weeks before the embolism. thrombophlebitis of lower limbs, infection or thrombosis of the vascular access, and the involvement of right-sided cardiac structures were all discarded. We assumed that the pulmonary episode was probably a consequence of the paradoxical passage of embolic material, detached from the aortic valve, from arterial to venous circulation through the arteriovenous fistula.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = cardiac (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/252. Destructive native valve endocarditis caused by staphylococcus lugdunensis.coagulase-negative staphylococci are uncommon causes of native valve endocarditis, and the clinical course after valvular infection with these organisms is variable. In clinical practice, species identification is frequently not done, and possible differences in the pathogenicity of various species may be unrecognized. We report a case of staphylococcus lugdunensis native valve endocarditis associated with valve leaflet perforation and cerebral embolization. This recently described species appears to be more virulent when infecting native cardiac valves than other species of coagulase-negative staphylococci. We review S lugdunensis native valve endocarditis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = cardiac (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/252. Histologic changes in three explanted native cardiac valves following use of fenfluramines.Use of fenfluramines, either alone or co-administered with phentermine ("fen-phen") as anorexic agents in obesity, has been associated with the development of clinically significant cardiac valve disease. We present the macroscopic and histologic findings in cardiac valves explanted from three patients who presented with valvular disease after fenfluramine or fenfluramine-phentermine use and underwent single valve replacement surgery. paraffin sections were prepared with hematoxylin and eosin, trichrome, elastic-van Gieson, and Giemsa stains, as well as immunostains using antibody to CD3 and CD20. All three patients (two females, ages 37 and 43, and a 49-year-old male) developed progressively symptomatic mitral (2 patients) or aortic (1 patient) valvular insufficiency following dexfenfluramine (2 patients) or fenfluramine-phentermine (1 patient) use. Macroscopic changes included irregular leaflet thickening, accompanied by chordal fusion in the mitral valves, but without vegetations, commissural fusion, or evidence of annular dilation. Histologically, fibromyxoid plaques and nodules just below the valve surface, superficial to a generally intact elastic fiber layer, were associated with CD3-positive lymphocytes. Valves from all three patients had central myxoid degenerative changes, which were focal/mild in one mitral valve, diffuse/moderate in one mitral valve, and diffuse/marked in one aortic valve. Focal areas of superficial fibromyxoid change or intimal thickening may also be seen in cardiac valves from patients with drug-unrelated processes leading to symptomatic or asymptomatic valvulopathy. Therefore, when valve tissue is available for histopathologic examination, valvular disease can be attributed to use of fenfluramines only if the following criteria are satisfied: (i) the macroscopic and microscopic features are consistent with fenfluramine-related valvulopathy, (ii) clinical, echocardiographic, and intraoperative findings support the diagnosis, and (iii) the history of drug exposure predates the development or exacerbation of valvular dysfunction.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 3.5keywords = cardiac (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/252. A cardiac papillary fibroelastoma with chordal location.Papillary fibroelastomas, which were initially incidental findings at autopsy and surgery, are now being recognized with increasing frequency with the widespread use of echocardiography. Because of their embolic potential, an aggressive treatment approach is generally accepted. We report a papillary fibroelastoma located at the chorda of the anterior mitral leaflet that underwent conservative follow-up for 8 years without any complications. Because most of the cardiac papillary fibroelastoma cases reported are incidental findings, the question of whether symptomless fibroelastomas must be removed or other factors contribute to the embolic nature of the selected cases remains a challenge for the future.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2.5keywords = cardiac (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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