Living on an atrial kick—an unusual case of a stuck mitral valve

A 53-year-old woman was admitted for dyspnoea. Her past history included mitral valve replacement (mechanical, tilting disc) 20 years earlier. The patient was well coumadinized both on admission and during the previous months. X-ray demonstrated pulmonary oedema. A transoesophageal echo (TEE) study was preformed to evaluate a high diastolic pressure gradient across the prosthetic valve ( Figure ). The TEE findings …