RESUMO
Gerbode defect is a communication between the left ventricle and right atrium. It is usually congenital rather than acquired, but can occur as a complication of endocarditis, myocardial infarction, trauma, or cardiac surgery. We report a case of surgical repair of acquired Gerbode defect resulting from infective endocarditis. A 69-year-old woman with aortic regurgitation due to infective endocarditis was referred to our hospital with a diagnosis of congestive heart failure. She was hospitalized and underwent medical treatment (intensive antibiotic therapy). Preoperative transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography were performed and revealed a mobile mass (vegetation) on the aortic valve. The patient also had severe aortic regurgitation and a communication between the left ventricle and right atrium. The communication was visualized in the atrioventricular membranous septum. Due to the mobility of the mass (vegetation) and uncontrollable congestive heart failure caused by severe aortic regurgitation, surgical treatment was advised. Surgery was performed through a median sternotomy with the patient on cardiopulmonary bypass. After aortic cross-clamping, the vegetation was approached through a horizontal incision in the ascending aorta and a right atriotomy. The communication site from the left view was below the commissure between the right coronary and non-coronary cusps ; from the right view, it was just above the tricuspid annulus of the septal leaflet. The defect was closed with two 0.4-mm thick Gore-Tex cardiovascular patches : one was placed on the LV side and the other on the RA side. The aortic valve was replaced with a bioprosthetic valve (SJM Epic 21 mm). The operation was finished and her clinical course was almost uneventful.
RESUMO
We report a case of surgical repair of acquired left ventricular-right atrial communication resulting from infective endocarditis. A 70-year-old man with aortic regurgitation due to infective endocarditis was referred to our hospital because of congestive heart failure. Preoperative transthoracic echocardiography showed severe aortic regurgitation and left ventricular-right atrial shunt flow. He underwent surgery following intensive antibiotic therapy. The fistula was located at the atrioventricular membranous septum. The communication site from the left ventricular view it was below the commissure between the left and the non-coronary cusps, and from the right atrial view it was above the tricuspid annulus of the septal leaflet. The fistula was closed with autologous pericardial patch from the aortotomy and a mattress suture from the right atriotomy. Aortic valve replacement was performed simultaneously. The postoperative course was uneventful. He was in sinus rhythm all the time. It is important to discuss surgical procedure preoperatively with precise echocardiographic examination.
RESUMO
Left ventricular-right atrial communications, known as Gerbode-type defects, are rare intracardiac defects that can be either congenital or acquired. Acquired forms arises from endocarditis, trauma, mitral or aortic valve replacement and myocardial infarction. In this case, a forty-seven year-old man with resting dyspnea and fever was diagnosed to have infected congenital bicuspid aortic valve resulting in severe acute aortic regurgitation and he also was diagnosed to have a Gerbode-type defect which were demonstrated by the color doppler method and realtime three-dimensional echocardiography. The causasive organism was Streptococcus mitis. After sufficient antibiotics therapy, aortic valve replacement was performed and the atrioventricular portion of the membranous septum was closed directly with mattress suture. We also review the anatomical features and hemodynamic consequences of such a defect.