Tayama E, Chihara S, Kosuga T, Akasu K, Kawano H, Ohashi M, Fukunaga S, Hayashida N, Aoyagi S
Department of Surgery, Kurume University School of Medicine, 67 Asahi-machi, Kurume 830-0011, Japan.
Ann Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2000 Apr;6(2):130-3.
A case of a 65-year-old woman who had a quadricuspid aortic valve associated with aortic regurgitation is reported. The patient had severe aortic regurgitation and four equally divided aortic cusps. The valve abnormality was detected by a transesophageal echo and an aortography. The incomplete aortic valve was excised and replaced by a St. Jude Medical prosthesis. Although this case had no coronary abnormality, a coronary displacement is often reported in quadricuspid aortic valve cases. In order to perform an operation safely, accurate information which is obtained by a non-invasive examination of the transesoph-ageal echo is quite valuable as it can indicate the need for further preoperative examinations of the coronary arteries.
