Surgically treated infective endocarditis involving the aortic bicuspid valve and ventricular septum revealing aortic regurgitation and a Gerbode defect

A 41-year-old man who had been previously diagnosed with bicuspid aortic valve presented to our hospital with repeating episodes of fever. Echocardiography revealed vegetation in the bicuspid valve as well as left-to-right shunt, making one suspicious of rupture of the sinus of Valsalva. Under the diagnosis of infective endocarditis of the aortic valve and rupture of the sinus of Valsalva, the patient underwent a surgical operation. Operative findings showed normal sinus of Valsalva; but a communication between the left ventricle and right atrium was present, suggesting a Gerbode defect. The patient was treated by autologous pericardial patch closure and aortic valve replacement and was dismissed from the hospital without major complications.