Echocardiography of ruptured aortic valvular leaflet.

An echocardiographic finding presenting itself as a ruptured noncoronary aortic cusp is described. The basic finding included a constant diastolic echo separation of the right coronary and noncoronary cusps, noncoronary cusp prolapse in the direction of the posterior aortic wall and its high-frequency diastolic flutter. The diagnosis was confirmed at autopsy. The case study reaffirmed the clinical value of echocardiography which was the only technique, including the invasive ones, permitting to make an accurate morphological diagnosis.