Transthoracic Echocardiography in Diagnosing Mixed Pulmonary Hypertension in a Patient With Bioprosthetic Mitral Valve Replacement.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Transthoracic echocardiography is a key tool for assessing pulmonary hypertension (PH), but its role in distinguishing PH etiology in patients with multiple prosthetic valves is less well established. The complex hemodynamics in such cases makes diagnosis challenging.

Case summary

A patient with repeated mitral valve replacements and multiple comorbidities presented with anasarca and was diagnosed with mixed PH.

Discussion

Although right heart catheterization is the gold standard for diagnosing PH, transthoracic echocardiography played a pivotal role in this case by providing early identification of PH etiology. It was instrumental in differentiating between valve stenosis/degeneration and patient-prosthesis mismatch, which are often challenging to distingu

SUBMITTER: Kodesh A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12441493 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature