HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Rainer G. Leyh Wolfgang Harringer Axel Haverich Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Leyh, R. G. Articles by Haverich, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Leyh, R. G. Articles by Haverich, A.

Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2002;21:100-101
© 2002 Elsevier Science NL

Case report

Intraoperative acute type A dissection caused by an intra-aortic filter (EMBOL-X^®) in a patient undergoing mitral valve re-replacement for acute endocarditis

Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Hanover Medical School, Carl Neuberg St. 1, 30623 Hanover, Germany

Received 30 May 2001; received in revised form 17 October 2001; accepted 17 October 2001.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +49-511-532-6581; fax: +49-511-532-5404
e-mail: leyh{at}thg.mh-hannover.de

We report on the case of a 60-year-old male patient who underwent mitral valve re-replacement for acute mechanical valve endocarditis. When an intra-aortic filter (EMBOL-X^® Inc, Mountain View, CA) was inserted through the arterial cannula in order to prevent embolization from a floating thrombus attached to the mitral valve prosthesis, our patient developed acute type A aortic dissection. This, to our knowledge, is the first report on this kind of complication using intra-aortic filter systems. Here we discuss a potential mechanism that might have led to the event of acute type A dissection in our case. Furthermore we point out strategies that might help to prevent this life-threatening complication in the future.

Key Words: Reoperation • Prosthetic valve endocarditis • Acute-type A dissection • Embolization