MASSIVE BILATERAL PULMONARY-EMBOLISM IN A PATIENT WITH SUBSEQUENT OCCURRENCE OF SEVERE MITRAL REGURGITATION DUE TO RUPTURED CHORDAE TENDINEAE - A CASE-REPORT

This report concerns an apparently healthy woman who presented simulta neously with acute massive bilateral pulmonary embolism and mitral reg urgitation, subsequently, a month later, resulting in pulmonary edema secondary to chordae rupture of the mitral valve. The authors believe that massive pulmonary embolism predisposed to chordal rupture in this case. It is suggested that increased awareness of ruptured chordae te ndineae as a cause of mitral regurgitation and the prompt use of trans esophageal echocardiography will facilitate the early recognition of t his potentially fatal, but treatable, cause of mitral regurgitation in patients with pulmonary embolism.