Aortic valve tethering: embryonic remnant of a common origin?

Abstract

A 14-year-old asymptomatic girl without relevant medical history was referred to our department for heart murmur evaluation. The echocardiogram showed cardiac chambers with normal size and function. Noteworthy was the presence of an apparently fibrous tissue joining the ventricular surfaces of the aortic non-coronary and right coronary leaflets with the anterior mitral leaflet. Both valves were slightly thickened and there was a mild anterior mitral valve 'billowing' causing an eccentric mild-to-moderate regurgitant jet. During systole, tethering of this tissue caused the incomplete opening of both mentioned aortic leaflets, causing a turbulent flow with no significant gradient across the valve. During diastole, moderate eccentric aortic regurgitation jet was noted, probably related to incomplete coaptation at the insertion point of this anomalous tissue. We speculate that this finding may represent the remnant of some tissue during heart development that abnormally persisted in this young lady.

Figure 1

(A) Long axis view end-diastole. (B) Long axis view diastole. (C) Short axis view. (D) Colour flow diastole. String-like tissue (arrows).