Key result
Surgical mitral valve repair resolves late leaflet flail symptoms nine years after infective endocarditis.
Why the study?
Mitral leaflet flail is a rare complication of infective endocarditis that is often misdiagnosed or delayed due to non-specific cardiac symptoms, despite early diagnosis and prompt surgical correction improving long-term survival.
Case Report (n=1)
No
Highlights mitral leaflet flail as a rare, late complication of infective endocarditis that can be accurately diagnosed using echocardiography.
Late mitral flail after endocarditis warrants echocardiographic vigilance; this case leaves open optimal surveillance and management strategies.
Infective Endocarditis (IE) refers to an infection of the endocardial surface of the heart which leads to a wide array of complications, including heart failure, perivalvular abscess, metastatic infection, septic embolization, mycotic aneurysms, neurological and renal complications. Mitral leaflet flail (MLF), defined as a failure of leaflet coaptation with the rapid systolic movement of the involved leaflet into the left atrium, is a rare complication of IE which can lead to severe mitral regurgitation. Echocardiography plays a key role in making its diagnosis with transesophageal echocardiograms (TEE), providing greater sensitivity and specificity compared to transthoracic echocardiograms (TTE). MLF is often misdiagnosed, or diagnosis is delayed due to its presentation with non-specific cardiac symptoms. However, early diagnosis with echocardiography and prompt surgical correction leads to improved long-term survival. Here we have presented a case of a 71-year-old female with a past medical history of IE nine years ago who was referred to the cardiology clinic for one month of exertional dyspnea. TTE showed severe mitral regurgitation, and subsequent TEE confirmed flail mitral leaflet.
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Ahmed et al. (2022) conducted a case report in Mitral Leaflet Flail secondary to Infective Endocarditis (n=1). Surgical repair of the mitral valve was evaluated on Symptom resolution. Surgical repair of the mitral valve successfully resolved symptoms in a 71-year-old female presenting with mitral leaflet flail as a late complication nine years after infective endocarditis.
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