Acute thrombosis of mechanical mitral valve prosthesis: echo-Doppler diagnosis and successful treatment with systemic thrombolysis.

The case of a 72-year old patient with acute heart failure due to thrombosis of the mechanical mitral prosthesis is presented. The diagnosis was made by transthoracic echocardiography. The patient refused reoperation, and systemic thrombolysis was administered. After thrombolytic infusion we observe the disappearance of the echocardiographic signs of thrombosis, with concomitant improvement of symptoms. Copyright 2002 The European Society of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.