[HSF] Aortic Valve Mass

[Mark Levinson, MD]

On Oct 13, 2006, at 3:33 PM, Edward Bender wrote:

> Here is a TEE picture of a pedunculated mass attached to the aortic  
> valve somewhere in the vicinity of the left-right commissure.  No  
> signs or symptoms of endocarditis.  Patient is a 50 year old female  
> smoker with unexplained sinus tachycardia.  No aortic  
> insufficiency, trace mitral insufficiency, normal EF.  What do you  
> think this is?
>

As Jeff Weiss said, this is a papillary fibroelastoma.   It can  
embolize to the main coronaries and be fatal, or to the head and  
cause stroke.    They are associated with valve tissue but are  
different pathology than myxomas.     Easy to snip off the leaflet.    
Recurrances are nil.


>

Mark Levinson, M.D.
Founder, Editor-in-Chief
The Heart Surgery Forum®
URL:   http://www.hsforum.com
Email:  mmlevinson at hsforum.com