Tricuspid Stenosis and Regurgitation: Successful Treatment by Valve Transplantation
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120 Annals ofthe Rheumatic Diseases 1992; 51: 120-122 lupus erythematosus complicated by Systemic Ann Rheum Dis: first published as 10.1136/ard.51.1.120 on 1 January 1992. Downloaded from tricuspid stenosis and regurgitation: successful treatment by valve transplantation Diane E Ames, Ronald A Asherson, John D Coltart, Vassilios Vassilikos, J K Lloyd Jones, Graham R V Hughes Abstract arthralgias, she remained generally well until Clinical tricuspid stenosis has not previously September 1988, when she had a 'flare' of SLE; been reported in patients with systemic lupus she had, meanwhile, also developed Raynaud's erythematosus (SLE). A 25 year old woman phenomenon. Treatment with azathioprine was with active SLE presented with signs of begun at this time. severe right ventricular failure. Cardiac In March 1989 the patient had a further acute catheterisation confirmed the diagnosis of psychotic episode and recurrent pleuritic pains tricuspid stenosis and regurgitation together and polyarthralgias. On admission to hospital with mitral regurgitation. This patient under- she refused to have a physical examination. She went successful tricuspid and mitral valve was again treated with tranquillisers, and pulsed replacement. methylprednisolone and cyclophosphamide were given intravenously. By August 1989 she had received 13 pulses of cyclophosphamide It is well established from necropsy studies that without clinical improvement. This treatment cardiac manifestations of systemic lupus ery- was discontinued because she developed a thematosus (SLE) may involve the endo- severe thrombocytopenia (20x 109/1). At the cardium, myocardium, pericardium, heart same time, ankle oedema and abdominal swell- valves, and coronary vessels.' The endocardial ing, which had not been noted previously, were involvement described by Libman and Sacks2 seen. can be seen in 13-50% of necropsies, with In September 1989 the patient was referred to pericarditis as the most common cardiovascular the Lupus Clinic at St Thomas's Hospital with manifestation. However, only 25% of such deteriorating renal function. Her main patients show clinical symptoms. With the symptoms were breathlessness on exertion, an increasing use of sophisticated methods of inability to lie flat, and swelling of her legs and diagnosis such as continuous wave Doppler abdomen. She was unwell, pale, withdrawn, analysis in the routine screening of large and dyspnoeic at rest. Florid nail fold infarcts http://ard.bmj.com/ numbers of patients with SLE to detect valvular and livedo reticularis of her hands and legs were abnormalities, endocardial lesions are becoming seen. She had signs of severe right sided heart increasingly reported in association with this failure with sinus tachycardia (130/min), a condition. We report here a 25 year old woman jugular venous pressure of 10 cm, a third heart with active SLE presenting with signs of severe sound, and a loud (grade 4/6) pansystolic right ventricular failure, who was subsequently murmur at the apex. Her blood pressure on found to have tricuspid stenosis and regurgitation admission was 120/75 mm Hg. She had an on September 24, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. together with mitral regurgitation. This patient enlarged tender liver, gross abdominal ascites underwent successful tricuspid and mitral valve and pitting oedema of both legs and abdomen Department of replacements. up to the anterior chest wall. Rheumatology, Investigations showed a normochromic St Thomas's Hospital, London SEI 7EH, normocytic anaemia, once again with a haemo- United Kingdom Case report globin of 76 g/l. Urea and creatinine levels D E Ames A 25 year old woman had shown an unusual were raised at 16-3 and 141 mmol/l, respectively. R A Asherson and creatinine G R V Hughes behaviour pattern, particularly withdrawal, at The 24 hour urinary protein the age of 18 years and had been treated with clearance were within normal limits and there Department of Cardiology, psychotherapy. Four years later, in 1986, she were no urinary casts. A chest x ray showed St Thomas's Hospital, was admitted to hospital during an acute small lung fields but no significant left ventri- London SEI 7EH, psychotic episode. She also complained of chest cular failure. Abdominal ultrasound confirmed United Kingdom J D Coltart and joint pains at this time. free fluid in the peritoneal cavity and showed V Vassilikos On physical examination she was found to good blood flow in the inferior vena cava and Harlow Wood Hospital, have marked livedo reticularis, a pleural friction renal veins with normal sized kidneys. Respira- Nottingham Road, rub, and a polyarthritis was seen. Investigations tory function tests were compatible with severe Nr Mansfield, revealed a normochromic normocytic anaemia restrictive lung disease. A ventilation/perfusion Notts, United Kingdom an elevated scan showed no mismatched defects. An J K Lloyd Jones (haemoglobin 107 g/l), leucopenia, rate of 113 mm/h, electrocardiogram confirmed the sinus tachy- Correspondence to: erythrocyte sedimentation Dr Ronald A Asherson, positive antinuclear antibodies, and antibodies cardia, axis +150 with T wave inversion in the Division of Rheumatology and of SLE inferior and lateral leads. An echocardiogram Connective Tissue Diseases, to double stranded DNA. A diagnosis The Roosevelt/St Luke's was made and treatment with tranquillisers and showed moderate mitral and tricuspid regurgi- Hospital Center, to she had a tation and an enlarged left atrium (5-2 cm). New York 10019, NY, USA. oral prednisolone, which good was The left ventricular function was normal. Accepted for publication symptomatic response, begun. 8 January 1991 Other than occasional pleuritic pains and There was thickening of the leaflets of the Tricuspid stenosis and regurgitation in SLE 121 mitral and tricuspid valves and, significantly, a I 0 9 p. Ann Rheum Dis: first published as 10.1136/ard.51.1.120 on 1 January 1992. Downloaded from peak gradient of 7 mm Hg across the tricuspid 4e# *' a.0 # valve. Her lupus serology remained active with I -tE§* q a DNA binding of 88%, low complement levels (C4 0 08 (0 16-0-45)) and an erythrocyte sedi- ( f mentation rate of 62 mm/h. The antibodies to , I ., I . cardiolipin and lupus anticoagulant tests were ` negative. & ( Initially her central venous pressure was monitored and she was treated with low doses of 0 V diuretics. She subsequently developed a Staphylococcus aureus septicaemia which S I II responded to flucloxacillin. Inotropic support became necessary at this time to maintain blood I pressure and renal output. She subsequently became dependent on dopamine. Cardiac 0 catheterisation was performed. This confirmed 0 W good left ventricular function with an ejection %0~ fraction of 68%, a normal aortic valve, and S. grade III mitral regurgitation. Grade III tricuspid X J, .0 .4 with end diastolic was also seen an p, regurgitation t. gradient across the valve of 7 mm Hg. She was I referred for urgent surgery. At surgery, the patient's heart was densely adherent to the pericardium with features of an extremely active pericarditis with constriction. Figure 2 View ofthe vascular connective tissuefilling the The posterior mitral valve leaflet appeared gap beneath theposterior mitral valve leaflet (high power). destroyed with subvalvular debris. There was The black areas indicate afocus offibrinoid necrosis (arrow). fusion of the anterior cusps to the septum and No LE cells are seen. septal and lateral leaflets of the tricuspid valve, with subvalvular thrombus. A prosthetic (Cardiomedics 27 mm) valve was inserited into The histology of the valves was consistent the mitral position, and a porcine xe6nograft with Libman Sacks endocarditis (figs 1 and 2). replaced the tricuspid valve. Five litres afserum The mitral valve leaflets were preserved. The were haemofiltered during surgery. anterior leaflet was covered with vascular fibro- elastic tissue, as was the adjacent endocardium. The angle under the posterior leaflet was filled with collagen. There were no verrucae. The http://ard.bmj.com/ tricuspid valve was covered with the same vascular fibroelastic tissue and the holding .i II.. face was covered with thrombus, which also enveloped the chordae and the interatrial septum. Recovery after surgery was unremarkable and she was discharged 10 days later while receiving warfarin, steroids, azathioprine, and a diuretic. on September 24, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. At follow up, three months later, she remains ....-- well, requiring no change in cardiac treatment, although her lupus serology remains active. Discussion Studies from several centres have shown a higher incidence of endocardial involvement in patients with SLE than previously supposed, '+ *f:: .: :: and there has also been much interest in the relationship of the antibodies to phospholipids with valve lesions in patients with lupus. :..::...<, ....c: efR: Thrombotic endocardial cardiac lesions certainly j.. :: occur in this context and are often associated with thromboembolic phenomena, particularly to the brain3 4 and coronary vessels.5 6 Although these antibodies were not present in this patient, the mitral valve showed organised thrombosis, indicating that patients other than those with antibodies to phospholipids are at risk of this complication. Straaton et al7 reviewed an existing database Figure I View ofthe posterior mitral valve leaflet at low power showing the under surface of of 420 patients with SLE collected between the leaflet to befilled with collagen tissue (arrow).