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

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 distinguish in patients with multiple prosthetic valves.

TAKE-HOME MESSAGE: This case highlights the novel use of transthoracic echocardiography in a complex patient with multiple prosthetic valves, demonstrating its potential to clarify the etiology of PH and guide treatment decisions in complex cases.