[Asymptomatic postoperative thrombosis of a Saint Jude mitral valve prosthesis. Treatment by fibrinolysis with rt-PA].

Routine Doppler echocardiography after cardiac surgery demonstrated stenotic dysfunction of a Saint Jude Medical mitral valve prosthesis due to blockage of one hemidisc although the patient was totally asymptomatic. Despite the precocity of this thrombosis (14th postoperative day), thrombolytic treatment was undertaken. It led to normalisation of the Doppler parameters of prosthetic valve function and mobility of the two hemidiscs. Haemopericardium occurred at the end of thrombolytic therapy and was drained easily, a benign complication of early postoperative thrombolysis.