Multimodality Imaging of a Gerbode Defect

A 76-year-old woman with a history of aortic valve replacement was referred for echocardiography for routine postoperative evaluation. Transthoracic echocardiogram revealed evidence of an intracardiac shunt between the left ventricle (LV) and the right atrium (RA) (Figure 1A).Figure 1. Illustration of LV-RA shunt by ( A ) 2-dimensional transthoracic echocardgiography, ( B ) 2-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography, and ( C ) 3-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography. LV indicates left ventricle; RA, right atrium; RV, right ventricle; LA, left atrium; TV, tricuspid valve.A transesophageal echocardiogram confirmed the presence of an LV to RA shunt consistent with a Gerbode defect (Figure 1B and 1C). To …