Characteristics and long-term outcomes of aortico-left ventricular tunnel

OBJECTIVES Aortico-left ventricular tunnel (ALVT) is an extremely rare, abnormal paravalvular communication between the aorta and the left ventricle. Few studies have identified the characteristics and long-term prognosis associated with ALVT. METHODS The data of 31 patients with ALVT from July 2002 to December 2019 were reviewed. Echocardiography was performed in all patients during the follow-up period. RESULTS The median age of the patients was 11.5 years. Bicuspid aortic valve and dilatation of the ascending aorta were found in 13 patients, respectively. The aortic orifice in 20 patients showed a close relation to the right sinus and the right–left commissure. Of the 31 patients, 26 were operated on. Mechanical valve replacement was performed in 4 patients and aortic valve repair, in 6 patients. Ascending aortoplasty was performed in 5 patients and aortic replacement was done in 2 patients. One patient died of ventricular fibrillation before the operation. Follow-up of the remaining 30 patients ranged from 1 to 210 months (median 64 months). There were 4 deaths during the follow-up period: 1 had mechanical valve replacement and 3 did not undergo surgical repair. In the 26 patients without aortic valve replacement, 6 had severe regurgitation and 2 had moderate regurgitation. In the 28 patients without replacement of the ascending aorta, 11 had continued dilatation of the ascending aorta, including those who had aortoplasty. CONCLUSIONS The aortic orifice of ALVT showed an association with the right sinus and the right–left commissure. For patients who did not have surgery, the long-term survival rate remained terrible. Surgical closure should be done as soon as possible after ALVT is diagnosed. The main long-term complications after surgical repair included aortic regurgitation and ascending aortic dilatation.

MORPHOMETRIC STUDY OF HUMAN AORTIC VALVE IN ADULTS OF WESTERN MAHARASHTRA: A CADAVERIC STUDY

Objective: To estimate the mean of morphometric values of the human aortic valve in the population of western Maharashtra. The morphometric variables include mean area and the circumference of the human aortic valve of both genders. Materials and Methods: The present study was carried out on 30 adult cadaveric hearts in the department of Anatomy at a tertiary care hospital in western Maharashtra. Heart and aortic arch were dissected according to standard dissection techniques. The aortic orifice and valves were exposed; pictures were taken keeping a plastic ruler alongside the periphery of the valve. The pictures were analyzed using Image J software to calculate circumference and area of the aortic valve. Results: The mean circumference of the aortic valve was 8.827 cm in males and 8.179 cm in females. The mean area of the male aortic valve was 5.365cm² and the female aortic valve is 4.641cm². The circumference results were found to be significant whereas the area results were not significant. Conclusion: The size of the aortic valve in the western Maharashtra region was found to be more as compared to other studies. The present study might help the cardiothoracic surgeons as well as the prosthetic valve manufacturing companies for the rough estimation of the aortic valve size. Keywords: Aortic valve, valve area, valve circumference

Transtoracical Ecocardiographic Assessment of Severe Degenerative Aortic Stenosis with Normal Ejection Fraction and Low Transvalvular Gradient

Purpose of the study: echocardiographic evaluation of the form of degenerative aortic stenosis (DAS) with preserved ejection fraction (EF) and low transvalvular gradient, in order to formulate the indication of valvular prosthesis as early as possible; retrospective observational study that includes patients admitted or sent for ambulatory evaluation by other medical services. The echocardiographic parameters used: systolic and diastolic indices, tissue and spectral, mitral and tricuspid veins, aortic orifice area, maximal aortic systolic velocity, maximal and medium aortic transvalvular gradient, myocardial mass index, volume of left atrium, left ventricular (LV) thickness. 42 patients with severe DAS and preserved EF, average age 71.7�3.85 years. Two groups were isolated: A - with increased gradient (22 patients) and B - with low gradient (20 patients). The gender distribution was comparable: women representing 33% in group A versus 30% in group B. The average age of women in both groups was higher than that of the men: in group A: 72�8 years in the case of women vs. 67�6 years in the case of men and in group B 72�3.5 years in women vs. 68�6 years in men. Apical displacement of the mitral ring: 14�2mm in lot A vs. 11�2mm in lot B. Myocardial mass index: 120 � 9g/m2 in lot A vs. 126 � 12g/m2 in lot B. Left ventricular filling ratio E/e�: 8�2 in lot A vs. 13�2 in lot B; maximum aortic systolic velocity: 4.3�0.9m/s in lot A vs. 3.1�0.8m/s in lot B; maximum gradient: 73.9�10mmHg in lot A vs. 37�12mmHg in lot B; aortic orifice area: 0.80�10.5 in lot A vs. 0.79�0.07 in lot B. Statistical analysis shows the Pearson correlation index r with the highest values of 95% at the significance threshold between the aortic orifice area and the valve opening (r=0.87), the ratio E/e� (r=-0.85) and diastolic thickness of the posterior wall of the aortic left ventricle (r = 0.78). Aortic stenosis with preserved ejection fraction and low gradient was more common in men. The filling ratio E/e� was increased (13 � 2) in group B, suggesting the increase of filling pressures of LV in patients with DAS and low transvalvular gradient. Tissue spectral systolic and longitudinal velocities were lower in group B, suggesting the onset of systolic LV dysfunction. The aortic valve opening and the E/e� ratio showed the highest correlation coefficient with the area of the aortic orifice in both groups. The myocardial mass index and the thickness of the walls of the LV cavity are similar in the two groups, suggesting that the reduction of the LV cavity through hypertrophy may not explain, at least in totality, the form of DAS with low gradient and preserved ejection fraction.

Mitral valve blood cyst occlusion of the aortic valve leading to syncope: detection by transthoracic and contrast echocardiography

Blood cysts of the mitral valve are rare in adults. These blood cysts are often asymptomatic. Blood cysts resulting in severe left ventricular outflow tract obstruction leading to syncope have not been previously report. We report an adult who developed frequent syncope due to mitral valve blood cysts occluding the aortic orifice. This condition was detected by transthoracic and contrast echocardiography. The blood cysts were successfully removed. A pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of blood cysts. Contrast echocardiography is a useful diagnostic modality for assessing cardiac blood cysts. This technique can play the same role as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in hospitals without MRI or in cases where MRI is not acceptable in an emergency.

Arterial bullet embolism after thoracic gunshot wound

Bullet embolization of the arterial or venous systems is a rare complication of penetrating gunshot injuries. A 29-year-old man presented at the emergency department with a gunshot wound to the left arm, which had transfixed the arm and entered the thorax, with no exit wound. Initial radiographies showed a projectile in the upper left thigh. Contrast-enhanced tomography showed a pseudo-aneurysm of the descending thoracic aorta and the bullet inside the proximal left superficial femoral artery. Physical examination found diminished left pedal pulses, and the patient complained of left toe numbness. Endovascular thoracic aortic pseudoaneurysm repair was performed, sealing the descending aortic orifice with an endograft, and thromboembolectomy/bullet retrieval was carried out via a left femoral incision, both successfully. Considering that diagnosis of missile emboli depends on a high degree of suspicion, physicians who manage gunshot wound patients must be acutely aware of the possibility of intravascular bullet embolism.

Aorta–bal kamra tunnel sikeres sebészi kezelése modern noninvazív képalkotó diagnosztika alapján

Aortico-left ventricular tunnel is a rare congenital cardiac defect, which bypasses the aortic valve via the paravalvar connection from the aorta to the left ventricle. The authors report the history of a 14-year-old boy with aortico-left ventricular tunnel in whom the aortic orifice arose from the right aortic sinus and was closed by a pericardial patch. The diagnosis was confirmed by combined two-dimensional and real time three-dimensional echocardiogram and magnetic resonance imaging. This is the first case, in which these complex diagnostic imaging methods have been used in the pre- and postoperative management of this defect. Optimally the new transthoratic three-dimensional echocardiography would be needed to define the anatomy and functional consequences of the aortico-left ventricular tunnel and in the postoperative follow-up. Orv. Hetil., 2015, 156(28), 1140–1143.

Large Patent Ductus Arteriosus in a 44-Year-Old Woman Leading to Calcium Deposition in the Left Atrium and Mitral and Aortic Valves

This report describes unusual autopsy findings in a 44-year-old woman who had a large, calcified patent ductus arteriosus that produced substantial left-to-right shunting. The patient died in 1962, 7 days after patch closure of the aortic orifice of the ductus. Numerous calcific deposits were present in the mural left atrial endocardium, the mitral valve leaflets and annulus, and the aortic valve cusps. The cause of the left-sided calcific deposits was perhaps related to the patient's several-decades-old giant aortopulmonary shunt, causing a major increase in the volume of blood passing through the left-sided cardiac chambers in comparison with the volume in the right side. To our knowledge, such findings in a patient with patent ductus arteriosus have not been reported previously.