BACKGROUND Absent pulmonary valve with ventricular septal defect is a rare cardiac malformation. The aim of our study is to specify the anatomic characteristics and the clinical and echocardiographic features of this cardiac malformation and to discuss its management. METHODS We report 8 cases of absent pulmonary valve with ventricular septal defected collected over a period of 24 years. The ...

Right-sided endocarditis is exceptional in non-drug addict patients without previous heart disease. Few cases have been published, and its diagnosis sometimes presents a significant clinical challenge. We describe a 57-year-old patient with no history of parenteral drug addiction or vascular catheter use, who had tricuspid valve endocarditis in a morphologically normal valve. The clinical debut...

Libman-Sacks endocarditis, characterized by sterile fibrofibrinous vegetations that have the potential to develop anywhere on the endocardial surface, was originally reported in 1924. The mitral valve is most commonly affected, followed by the aortic valve, whereas tricuspid and pulmonary valves are seldom involved. Libman-Sacks vegetations can be found in approximately 1 of 10 patients with sy...

The object of this report is to record our experience with six patients in whom urgent surgical measures becaniz necessary as a result of cardiac valve destruction following bacterial endocarditis. The patients constitute a group of six in a total of 200 valve replacements and have been distinguished from three patients in whom, as a result of bacterial endocarditis, valve replacement was under...

Tricuspid valve endocarditis is a significant cause of valve-related morbidity and mortality. Prosthetic valve reconstruction can be costly and requires life-long anticoagulation. We present our experience with surgical management of an endocarditis damaged tricuspid valve leaflet in an intravenous drug user. We were able to excise the infected tissue and successfully repair the native valve us...

Right-sided infective endocarditis (RSIE) accounts for 5-10% of all cases of infective endocarditis and is predominantly encountered among injecting drug users (IDUs). RSIE diagnosis requires a high index of suspicion as respiratory symptoms predominate. Prognosis of isolated RSIE is favourable, and most cases (70-80%) resolve following antibiotic administration. Surgical intervention is indica...

BACKGROUND One third of patients with infective endocarditis will require operative intervention. Given the superiority of valve repair over valve replacement in many indications other than endocarditis, there has been increasing interest and an increasing number of reports of excellent results of valve repair in acute infective endocarditis. The theoretically ideal material for valve repair in...

Since the first cardiac valve replacement in the early sixth decade of the last century, the search continued for ideal cardiac valve substitute with proven structural durability over a period of 10 to 20 years, central flow orifice without transvalvular gradient, absence of host reactivity deleterious to valve function, non-thrombogenecity without the use of anti-coagulant, resistance to infec...

The prevalence and characteristics of right heart endocarditis in Africa are not well known. The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory profiles of patients with right-heart infective endocarditis. This was a 10-year retrospective study conducted in 2 cardiology departments in Dakar, Senegal. All patients who met the diagnosis of right heart infective end...

Introduction:  In patients who underwent surgery to repair Tetralogy of Fallot, right ventricular dilation from pulmonary regurgitation may be result in right ventricular failure, arrhythmias and cardiac arrest. Hence, pulmonary valve replacement may be necessary to reduce right ventricular volume overload. The aim of present study was to assess the effects of pulmonary valve replacement on rig...