Resuscitated cardiac arrest in patient with acute mitral insufficiency due to endocarditis

Abstract

Infective endocarditis usually involves heart valves, but it can also affect the tendinous cords or mural endocardium. Vegetation, its typical lesion, consists on a mass of platelets, fibrin, germs microcolonies, and scarce inflammatory cells. The case of a young man, with an infective endocarditis and mitral valve insufficiency with rupture of the tendinous cords diagnosis is presented. He suffered a cardiac arrest which required cardiopulmonary-cerebral resuscitation by which spontaneous circulation recovery was attained. Then the patient was referred to the emergency room for mitral valve replacement and tendinous cords preservation, with satisfactory results and without pulmonary or neurological implications.