Introduction: Mitral valve papillary muscle rupture is a rare condition that presents a cardiac emergency requiring rapid identification and treatment. Here we present a case of flash pulmonary edema and cardiogenic shock from severe mitral regurgitation (MR) secondary to spontaneous rupture of the anterolateral papillary muscle. Case Presentation: A 48-year-old female with hypertension presented to the ED with acute shortness of breath. In the ED, she was tachycardiac, hypertensive, tachypnic and saturating 75% on room air. On physical exam a 3/6 systolic murmur was present at the apex. ECG had no signs of ischemia. TTE showed severe MR with a fail anterior mitral leaflet. The patient was intubated and taken emergently to the cath lab for intra-aortic balloon pump placement, TEE (Figure 1A) and coronary angiogram, which was normal (Figure 1B, 1C). She was taken to the OR for successful mitral valve replacement surgery. Discussion: The rapid clinical decline and emergent management of patients who develop cardiogenic shock with pulmonary edema from acute non-ischemic papillary muscle rupture presents a significant challenge for clinicians. The cause of papillary muscle rupture most often occurs due an ischemic event, but can occur spontaneously as in this case. Rapid identification of the etiology of the clinical symptoms is of upmost importance to increase chances of survival. On review, 11 cases have been published between 2000-2015 discussing nonischemic nonmyxomatous spontaneous papillary muscle rupture of which the majority had a posterior muscle rupture. In our case, the 48-year old patient only had mild chordal calcification and essential hypertension and presented with nonischemic nonmyxomatous rupture of the anterolateral muscle. With prompt identification and urgent multidisciplinary team intervention, the patient was eventually discharged after replacement and is doing well at 6 months follow-up.
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