Free‐Floating Left Atrial Ball Thrombus Following Mitral Valve Replacement

Abstract

We report the case of a 51-year-old woman who underwent mitral valve replacement for prolapse with severe regurgitation, depressed ejection fraction, and atrial fibrillation. Two weeks post-operatively, a transesophageal echocardiogram was performed for bacteremia. The patient was found incidentally to have a large free-floating ball thrombus in the left atrium. The patient was managed with anticoagulation because of the high-risk nature of repeat surgery. One month following diagnosis, the patient still had persistent thrombus in the left atrium seen on transthoracic echocardiography despite therapeutic anticoagulation. Free-floating ball thrombus is a rare and dramatic finding seen on echocardiography in patients with mitral valve disease.

A case of a free-floating ball thrombus in the left atrium after administration of streptokinase in a patient with early mitral valve replacement

“…A free-floating ball thrombus in the LA after MVR is a very rare [1] and dramatic finding seen on echocardiography in patients with mitral valve disease. [2] When a ball thrombus is suspected on clinical grounds, transthoracic echocardiography should be performed without any delay. [3] The presented case is about MVR with a free-floating ball thrombus in the left atrium after the administration of streptokinase in a young patient.…”