Turk Kardiyol Dern Ars. 2011; 39(1): 52-54

Sinus of Valsalva thrombosis causing peripheral embolism

Fuat Gündogdu¹, Eftal Murat Bakırcı¹, Hüsnü Degirmenci¹, Necip Becit^2
1Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey
²Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey

A 44-year-old woman was admitted with the diagnosis of peripheral arterial emboli. Peripheral angiography demonstrated total occlusion of the popliteal artery. The obstruction was successfully resolved with a Fogarty arterial embolectomy catheter. Both transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography showed a mobile, round thrombus in the noncoronary sinus of Valsalva. The patient did not accept surgery, and anticoagulation with warfarin was initiated. One month after treatment, transthoracic echocardiography demonstrated disappearance of the thrombus in the noncoronary sinus of Valsalva. The patient did not experience any recurrent episode of systemic embolization. This is a rare case of peripheral embolism caused by a thrombus in the noncoronary sinus of Valsalva without aneurysm.

Keywords: Anticoagulants/therapeutic use, echocardiography, embolism/etiology, ischemia/etiology; leg/blood supply; sinus of valsalva/pathology; thrombosis/complications/therapy

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