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Atrial Endocarditis—The Importance of the Regurgitant Jet Lesion
Author(s) -
Gregory Shawn A.,
Yepes Cesar B.,
Byrne John G.,
D’Ambra Michael N.,
Chen Ming Hui
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
echocardiography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1540-8175
pISSN - 0742-2822
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-8175.2005.04071.x
Subject(s) - endocarditis , intracardiac injection , medicine , cardiology , lesion , mitral regurgitation , infective endocarditis , mitral valve , presentation (obstetrics) , radiology , surgery
The jet lesions of valvular regurgitation or intracardiac shunts have been hypothesized to play an important role in the pathogenesis of endocarditis for many years. We describe a case of mitral valve endocarditis that involved the left atrium along the path of a jet lesion. This resulted in atrial endocarditis and pericarditis, both of which complicated her presentation and hospital course. Using transesophageal echocardiography, we were able to directly visualize the path and full extent of infection prior to surgery. Special attention should be focused upon the path of eccentric jets in order to fully define the extent of endocarditis.