Surgical treatment of early acute thrombosis of mechanical mitral prosthesis

Prosthetic valve thrombosis is a rare but life threatening complication of mechanical heart valve prosthesis. A 44-year-old woman diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease with severe mitral valve stenosis, moderate tricuspid valve insufficiency, and atrial fibrillation underwent transseptal mitral valve replacement and tricuspid valvuloplasty in our department. Heparin and warfarin were routinely used postoperatively. Although the international normalized ratio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time ratio, and platelet count were satisfactory, the patient presented with severe dyspnea suddenly 10 days after discharge; echocardiogram showed that the prosthetic posterior leaflet was immobile. The patient suffered cardiac arrest suddenly during the examination and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was carried out successfully. Emergent surgery was performed, confirming the prosthetic valve thrombosis. The prosthetic valve was replaced with another mechanical prosthesis. The patient recovered smoothly and was discharged 14 days later with atrial fibrillation. During the 12-months follow-up period, her prosthetic valve and heart function were normal with INR around 3.0. This case highlights the need for awareness among clinicians for the possibility of valve thrombosis in the early postoperative period.