Infective endocarditis in pregnancy has a low incidence, often being associated with a previous history of rheumatic or congenital heart disease. In most reports the disease tends to run a subacute course and to appear more frequently in the third trimester of pregnancy. We present the case of a 36-year-old woman with large vegetations on the mitral valve due to infective endocarditis detected ...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the success rates and prognosis of heart valvuloplasty and valve replacement for elderly patients, and to provide clinical evidence. METHODS A total of 1240 patients who received heart valve surgeries in our hospital from June 2004 to October 2014 were selected and retrospectively analyzed. They were divided into two groups based on age (60), and those older than 60 (Grou...

7. Clinical bottom line TV insufficiency should be treated during left-sided valve surgery when TR annulus is dilated (G21 mmym ;)70 mm 2 intra-operatively; G3.5 cm at trans-thoracic echocardio-graphy (TTE) w18x) regardless of the absolute grade of regurgitation, in cases of preoperative AF, trans-tricuspid PMK lead and underlying rheumatic disease. Also, 'ring' annuloplasty techniques should b...

A new clinical entity is described in which free aortic regurgitation from congenital aortic valve disease caused rupture of the chordae to the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve in 7 men aged 45 to 63 years (mean 52 years); 2 of the patients also had rupture of chordae to the posterior leaflet. Comparing these patients with those with ruptured mitral chordae in association with rheumatic he...

A n 18-year-old lies in bed in a lower-income country. He has just experienced an embolic stroke that originated on his infected mechanical mitral prosthesis, placed 2 years prior for severe rheumatic mitral stenosis. This true story is paradigmatic of the burdens created by rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in developing nations and underserved regions of developed nations. What if this tragedy co...

In 1966 Barlow and Bosman(1) described a constellation of clinical fi ndings consisting of non-ejection systolic clicks and a late systolic murmur, T-wave abnormalities, and systolic aneurysmal billowing of the posterior mitral leafl et into the left atrium. Since then, in areas without rheumatic heart disease, mitral valve prolapse (MVP) has been portrayed as the most common form of valvular h...

The occurrence of heart disease in rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis has been known for a considerable time, but its exact incidence and status has been the subject of much controversy, further confused by the North American inclusion of both diseases under one heading. In a survey of the subject in 1950, Bywaters distinguished three combinations: patients with rheumatoid arthriti...

Pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) is known to regress after successful balloon mitral valvotomy (BMV). Data of persistent pulmonary artery hypertension (PPAH) following BMV is scarce. We analyzed the clinical, echocardiographic, and hemodynamic data of 701 consecutive patients who have undergone successful BMV in our institute from 1997 to 2003. Data of 287 patients who had PPAH (defined by pulmo...