Carcinoid pulmonary valvulopathy evaluated by real-time 3-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography.

A 55-year-old woman with carcinoid valvular heart disease was referred for consideration of right-sided valve replacement. By transthoracic 2-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography, there was severe tricuspid regurgitation and mild right ventricular dysfunction. The pulmonary valve was thickened with annular constriction and severe regurgitation. Real-time 3-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography provided an en face view of pulmonary valve from the right ventricular outflow perspective, not obtainable by routine 2-dimensional echocardiography. Three-dimensional echocardiography may play an incremental role for the preoperative assessment of the pulmonary valve in patients with carcinoid heart disease.