Key result
Native aortic valve infiltration by chronic lymphocytic leukemia links to rapid bioprosthetic valve degeneration.
Why the study?
Cardiac manifestations of chronic lymphocytic leukemia are extremely rare, particularly those involving the cardiac valves.
Case Report (n=1)
This case report highlights an extremely rare instance of chronic lymphocytic leukemia infiltrating the native aortic valve, potentially contributing to severe aortic stenosis and subsequent rapid degeneration of a surgical bioprosthetic valve.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Warrants vigilance for rapid bioprosthetic failure in CLL; hypothesis-generating and requires validation in larger cohorts.
BACKGROUND: Cardiac manifestations of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) are extremely rare, particularly involving valves. CASE SUMMARY: A patient with low-grade CLL presented with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis. Following surgical aortic valve replacement, the patient experienced rapid degeneration of her surgical bioprosthetic aortic valve, necessitating valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Re-evaluation of her excised native aortic valve tissue on histology with immunohistochemical confirmation revealed extensive CLL infiltration. DISCUSSION: Extensive CLL infiltration of the aortic valve is an extremely rare phenomenon. This case raises the hypothesis that a clonal lymphoproliferative process may contribute to calcific aortic stenosis and possibly early bioprosthetic structural valve deterioration. Additional studies are needed to further evaluate this association. TAKE-HOME MESSAGES: CLL can rarely affect cardiac valves and may contribute to the development of native valve stenosis. Additional studies are required to determine whether CLL is a risk factor for early prosthetic structural valve deterioration.
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Wu et al. (2026) conducted a case report in Severe aortic stenosis and low-grade chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) (n=1). Chronic lymphocytic leukemia infiltration / Surgical and valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement was evaluated on Bioprosthetic structural valve deterioration and native aortic valve infiltration. Extensive chronic lymphocytic leukemia infiltration of the native aortic valve occurred in 1 patient with severe aortic stenosis who had rapid surgical bioprosthetic valve degeneration requiring TAVR.
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