FREQUENCY OF LEFT ATRIAL THROMBUS DETECTED BY TRANSESOPHAGEAL ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY IN PATIENTS OF TIGHT MITRAL STENOSIS HAVING NEGATIVE TRANS-THORACIC ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY AT GULAB DEVI CARDIAC COMPLEX

Abstract

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: Patients with mitral stenosis (MS) having atrial fibrillation (AF) are more prone to develop left atrial (LA) thrombus. Systemic embolism, related to LA thrombus is a well-known risk of Percutaneous Mitral Balloon Valvotomy (PMBV) of the mitral valve. Therefore presence of LA thrombus is a contraindication to PMBV. OBJECTIVE: Objective of this study was to detect the frequency of LA thrombus by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in patients of tight MS in whom transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) could not detect any LA thrombus. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this cross sectional study, we took 100 indoor patients with tight MS on non-probability consecutive sampling. Data was collected after meeting inclusion criteria. Patients were taken in this study after acquiring written informed consent. Symptoms were inquired from all patients and functional status was assessed by New York Heart Association class. Unstable patients were medically managed before the procedure. TEE was done on the same day before undergoing PMBV to look for clot in LA. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 32.20 years and SD was 11.3 years. There were 36(36%) male patients and 64(64%) female patients. LA thrombus was present in 40% of patients on TEE out of which 19 were male patients (52.77%) and 21 were female patients (32.81%). CONCLUSION: Patients with mitral stenosis having AF are more prone to develop LA thrombus. In this study, the frequency of LA thrombus was 40% recorded, which is high. Due to the potential risk of embolization, it is strongly recommended to perform TEE in patients with normal TTE study before undergoing PMBV. The presence of a LA thrombus should be considered a contraindication to the PMBV of the mitral valve. KEY WORDS: Mitral Stenosis, Atrial Fibrillation, Percutaneous Mitral Balloon Valvotomy.