[A case of coronary artery embolism after double valve replacement]

A 69-year-old woman with combined valvular heart disease (mitral regurgitation and aortic regurgitation), ascending aortic aneurysm, and atrial fibrillation underwent double valve replacement (DVR) and, ascending aortic wall plication. The postoperative thrombo-test level was around 20%. The ST elevation on ECG (II, III, aVFm, V4 approximately V6) with chest pain were recognized on the 13 th postoperative day. She was diagnosed as having acute myocardial infarction, and percutaneous transluminal coronary recanalization was performed immediately. The coronary angiogram showed occlusion at the left anterior descending branch (#8). This lesion could be recanalized by 6,000 U plasminogen pro activator (pro-UK) administration. The cineangiogram on the 35th postoperative day, revealed complete recanalization of this occlusion. Several cases of acute myocardial infarction associated with valvular heart diseases has been reported previously in Japan. However, there has been no report, except for this case, demonstrating occlusion in the coronary artery after prosthetic replacement and successful PTCR. So, this case is the first report on that point.