Beating heart aortic valve replacement in a pregnant patient.

A 23-year-old woman with a history of previous bileaflet mechanical aortic valve replacement presented in acute heart failure at 27 weeks of gestation. Transthoracic echocardiography (TEE) demonstrated minimal leaflet excursion consistent with valve thrombosis. The patient underwent emergent surgery with normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), and beating-heart technique for valve replacement. This novel strategy for aortic valve replacement is being presented as being particularly useful in pregnant patients whose fetuses are at risks of hypothermia, hemodilution, and hyperkalemia during CPB.