Aortic Valve Trombosis - A Case Study

CardioNerds (Amit Goyal and Daniel Ambinder) join Dr. Jaya Kanduri, Dr. Dan Lu, and Dr. Joe Wang from Weill Cornell Cardiology for Levain cookies in Central Park. The ECPR is provided by Dr. Harsimran Singh (Cardiology Program Director and Interventional Cardiologist with expertise in ACHD). Episode introduction by CardioNerds Clinical Trialist Dr. Jeremy Brooksbank. We discuss a case of a 24-year-old female with a history of unicuspid aortic valve with associated aortopathy status post mechanical aortic valve replacement and Bentall procedure at age 16 presents with acute onset substernal chest pain and shortness of breath. She was found to have mechanical aortic valve obstruction and severe aortic regurgitation resulting in cardiogenic shock. Unfortunately, the shock quickly progressed to refractory cardiac arrest requiring mechanical support with VA-ECMO before valve debridement was performed in the operating room. The differential for mechanical prosthetic valve stenosis includes pannus, thrombus, or vegetation. She was eventually found to have thrombus obstructing the outflow tract and holding the mechanical leaflets open leading to torrential regurgitation. She underwent successful surgical debridement. We discuss unicuspid aortic valve and associated aortopathy, surgical considerations regarding AVR, diagnosis and management of prosthetic valve dysfunction, approach to cardiogenic shock and considerations around activating and managing VA-ECMO. With this episode, the CardioNerds family warmly welcomes Weill Cornell Cardiology to the CardioNerds Healy Honor Roll. The CardioNerds Healy Honor Roll programs support and foster the the CardioNerds spirit and mission of democratizing cardiovascular education. Healy Honor Roll programs nominate fellows from their program who are highly motivated and are passionate about medical education. The Weill Cornell fellowship program director, Dr. Harsimran Singh has nominated Dr. Jaya Kanduri for this position. Claim free CME just for enjoying this episode!  Disclosures: NoneJump to: Pearls - Notes - References CardioNerds Case Reports PageCardioNerds Episode PageCardioNerds AcademyCardionerds Healy Honor Roll CardioNerds Journal ClubSubscribe to The Heartbeat Newsletter!Check out CardioNerds SWAG!Become a CardioNerds Patron! Case Media ECGCXREchoRHC PSL AP3 Color LHC - LCA LHC - LCA RCA Aortogram TEE TEE 2 Episode Teaching Pearls - Mechanical Valve Thrombosis (1) Unicuspid aortic valves present with aortic stenosis earlier in life. There can be concurrent aortic regurgitation and, like bicuspid aortic valves, unicuspids can be associated with aortopathy as well as other congenital anomalies. (2) Prosthetic valve stenosis is assessed with different echocardiographic parameters than what we use for native valves. The differential for mechanical valve stenosis includes pannus, thrombus, or vegetation. Patient prosthesis mismatch may also lead to elevated gradients. (3) VA-ECMO provides robust flow in the setting of cardiogenic shock as well as gas exchange. While this flow may improve end-organ perfusion, it also increases left ventricular afterload, thereby potentially worsening LV ischemia and impeding LV recovery. Elevated afterload may also decrease innate contractility and prevent aortic valve leaflets from opening. Therefore, if a patient with a mechanical valve is on VA-ECMO, ensuring valve opening to prevent valve (or ventricular) thrombosis is paramount. (4) Venting is sometimes necessary to decrease the left ventricular end diastolic pressure from the high afterload imposed by VA-ECMO. A microaxial temporary LVAD (example – Impella device) directly unloads the left ventricle, but cannot be used in the setting of a mechanical aortic valve. TandemHeart is also a consideration (inflow cannula placed across the interatrial septum in the left atrium) to unload the LV,