Background and Objectives：Assessment of the clinical implications of subaortic complications, such as the involvement of the mitral-aortic intervalvular fibrosa (MAIVF) or anterior mitral valve leaflet (AMVL), were sought in patients with aortic valve infective endocarditis (AoIE).
Subjects and Methods：The clinical data of 95 consecutive (69 male) AoIE patients were retrospectively analyzed.
Results：Subaortic complications were detected in 40 patients (42%). Involvement of the AMVL and MAIVF was present in 16 and 13 patients, respectively, and in 4 patients both were involved. The remaining 7 patients showed metastatic lesions in chordae or interventricular septum. Surgery was performed in 60 patients (63%, Group I) and the other 35 received medical treatment only; surgery was neither feasible due to multiorgan failure in 17 patients (Group II) nor necessary with stable hemodynamics in 18 (Group III). The overall in-hospital mortality was 19% (18/95), which was significantly different according to the treatment group (10% in group I, 65% in group II, and 6% in group III, p<0.001). In group I, patients with subaortic complications showed higher mortality compared to those without (22 vs. 0%, p=0.006). Surgery was performed in 28 patients with a periaortic abscess, and operative mortality was much higher in patients with a MAIVF abscess than in those with an abscess in other sites (40 vs. 0%, p=0.018). The sensitivity of transesophageal echocardiography for a subaortic complication was significantly higher than that of transthoracic echocardiography (89 vs. 41%, p<0.05).
Conclusion：Subaortic complications were relatively frequent in AoIE, and a MAIVF lesion is associated with a higher operative mortality.
|