S. Jabbour et al., HEMODYNAMIC STABILIZATION OF ACUTE PROSTHETIC VALVE THROMBOSIS USING PERCUTANEOUS CATHETER MANIPULATION, Catheterization and cardiovascular diagnosis, 39(3), 1996, pp. 314-316
Thrombosis of a tilting-disk prosthetic heart valve can be an acute an
d potentially life-threatening problem. Surgical thrombectomy, valve r
eplacement, or systemic thrombolytic agents have been successfully emp
loyed in the management of such cases. Some patients, however, may not
survive the acute episode long enough to receive definitive surgical
therapy. For such patients, temporary hemodynamic stabilization might
be achieved by re-establishing partial valve disk mobility. This repor
t describes a technique for re-establishing valve disk mobility in an
acutely compromised patient by using a percutaneously introduced ''rig
id'' catheter to manipulate an entrapped tilting-disk valve in the aor
tic position. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.