Aortic valve aneurysm associated with infective endocarditis: case report and review of literature

Although there are several mitral valve aneurysm reports, studies on aortic valve aneurysm are extremely rare. This paper describes an uncommon case of a large saccular aortic valve aneurysm associated with infective endocarditis. A 37-year-old man was hospitalized in our hospital with fever and dyspnea. Echocardiography found severe aortic regurgitation and aortic valve aneurysm of the non-coronary cusp going in and out of the left ventricular chamber. Blood cultures grew Streptococcus viridance. Therefore, the patient underwent aortic valve replacement. During the operation, we observed a 30 × 20 mm ruptured aneurysm that arose from the non-coronary cusp. The aortic valve containing the aneurysm was resected and replaced with a mechanical heart valve. Histopathological examination of the aortic valve aneurysm showed active inflammatory changes. Infective endocarditis was considered to be the cause of this aortic valve aneurysm.