Two Cases of Caseous Calcification of the Mitral Annulus.
- Author:
Kyeong Min BYEON
1
;
Seung Woo PARK
;
Jin Oh CHOI
;
Ji Hyun YANG
;
Hye Jin HAN
;
Gwan Hyeop SON
;
Yoon Jung KIM
Author Information
- Publication Type:Case Report
- Keywords: Calcification, physiologic; Mitral valve
- MeSH: Abscess; Aged; Calcification, Physiologic; Dyspnea; Female; Humans; Infarction; Mitral Valve; Solitary Pulmonary Nodule; Thorax; Thrombosis; Unnecessary Procedures
- From:Korean Circulation Journal 2009;39(2):82-85
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: Caseous mitral annular calcification describes a heavy calcification of the mitral annulus with central liquefaction. This rare variant of mitral annular calcification may resemble an intracardiac tumor, abscess, vegetation, or thrombus, a resemblance that often leads to unnecessary surgery. Typical echocardiographic findings include a large, round, bright echogenic mass with a central echolucent area. It is known to have a benign clinical outcome, and it is thus managed conservatively. Because this entity is not well known and has only rarely been described, we report two cases of mitral annular calcification encountered at our institution. The first patient was an elderly woman with exertional dyspnea who was found to have a solitary pulmonary nodule on plain chest radiography. This was determined to represent caseous calcification of the mitral annulus. The other patient was an elderly woman who had a history of cerebral embolic infarction. She did not have an intracardiac thrombus, but she did have caseous mitral annular calcification. Both patients were managed conservatively.
