Wolf in Wolf's Clothing—A Case of Prosthetic Aortic Valve Thrombosis Presenting as an Acute Coronary Syndrome

Bridgman, John C; Chik, William; Heddle, William

doi:10.1016/j.hlc.2006.02.005

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Volume 15, Issue 5 , Pages 334-336, October 2006

Wolf in Wolf's Clothing—A Case of Prosthetic Aortic Valve Thrombosis Presenting as an Acute Coronary Syndrome

Flinders Medical Centre, Cardiac Services and Critical Care, Flinders Drive, Bedford Park, SA 5042, Australia

Received 26 August 2005; received in revised form 15 December 2005; accepted 5 February 2006.

Mechanical prosthetic valve thrombosis (PVT) is a potentially life threatening event that occurs with an incidence of 0.2% per patient year following aortic valve replacement [Lengyel M, Fuster V, Keltal M, et al. Guidelines for management of left-sided prosthetic valve thrombosis: a role for thrombolytic therapy. J Am Coll Cardiol 1997;30:1521–6]. We present the case of a middle-aged man with thrombosis of his aortic valve prosthesis mimicking an acute coronary syndrome. The patient received thrombolytic therapy with subsequent embolism of thrombotic debris to the leg.

Keywords: Prosthetic valve thrombosis, Thrombolysis, Thromboembolism