Thrombosis of a bileaflet prosthetic mitral valve: a real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography perspective.

Rheumatic mitral valve disease being common in India, valve replacement and hence thrombosis of prosthetic heart valves (PHV) are not uncommon. The diagnosis is commonly established by increased gradients across PHV during transthoracic echo and restricted leaflet movement during transesophageal echo or fluoroscopy. We demonstrated both the leaflets of a thrombosed PHV,of which one was stuck in closed position by real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography.