Left atrial thrombosis after mitral valve replacement
Tanaka, K.; Aso, K.; Kumate, M.; Aoyagi, S.; Kosuga, K.; Ohishi, K.
Kyobu Geka. Japanese Journal of Thoracic Surgery 43(4): 291-295
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0021-5252 PMID: 2352393 Document Number: 367376
Thrombosis of the left atrium is a rare but troublesome complication of the mitral valve replacement (MVR). In our series of MVR, seven patients had thrombus formation of the left atrium late after MVR. These seven cases (LAT group) are compared with 53 cases (no LAT group), who are picked up randomly and have no thrombus of the left atrium after MVR, concerning to some risk factors. And the result is that the left atrial volume shows a significant difference between two groups among the risk factors. We consider that the cases with enlarged left atrium have a high risk of thrombus formation after MVR and so they also need a plication of the left atrium at the primary operation.