[Left Ventricular Rupture during Both Mitral and Aortic Valve Replacements]

A 73-year-old woman on hemodialysis was transferred to our hospital for surgical treatment of heart valve disease. She required both mitral and aortic valve replacement with mechanical valves, associated with tricuspid annuloplasty. After aortic de-clamping, a massive hemorrhage from the posterior atrioventricular groove was observed. Under repeated cardiac arrest, the left atrium was reopened, the implanted mitral prosthetic valve was removed and a type I left ventricular rupture (Treasure classification) was diagnosed. The lesion was directly repaired with mattress stitches and running sutures, using reinforcement materials such as a glutaraldehyde-treated bovine pericardium. To avoid mechanical stress by the prosthetic valve on the repaired site, a mechanical valve was implanted using a translocation method. The patient suffered from aspiration pneumonia and disuse atrophy for 3 months. However, she was doing well at 1 year post-operation.