The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 19, 212-215, Copyright © 1975 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Late embolization of prosthetic mitral valve occluder with survival following reoperation
DA Hughes, LL Leatherman, JC Norman and DA Cooley
Embolization of the occluder from a prosthetic mitral valve is an extremely
rare event. Previous reports in the literature have described the uniformly
fatal outcome of this complication. A case in which the occluder from a
Wada-Cutter mitral prosthesis embolized five years following implantation
is presented. The patient survived following emergency reoperation. Several
unique features of escaped mitral poppet are discussed. Depending upon
cardiac reserves, patients who have this complication may live long enough
to allow emergency operative intervention and eventual recovery.