Rupture of the Aortic Valve

RUPTURE of the aortic valve may occur as a result of trauma,1 2 3 4 strain,1 , 5 or bacterial infection.6 , 7 The valves are usually the site of some predisposing factors such as rheumatic valvulitis, syphilitic infection,6 atheromatous changes1 , 6 and congenital anomalies.4 , 8 Nevertheless, in a considerable number of cases, the valve, as seen at post-mortem examination, is otherwise normal.1 2 3 4 The feature common to free aortic insufficiency resulting from rupture, whether traumatic or infectious in origin, is the grave and usually hopeless prognosis.Bright and Beck,9 in 1935, reviewed the general subject of traumatic heart disease with a view of possibly salvaging some cases, and their . . .