Rupture of the Left Ventricle in the Atrioventricular Groove After Mitral Valve Replacement: A Case Report

As we grow older, and our population continues to live longer due to advancements in modern medical therapies, we have a growing population of elderly patients. There will inevitably be more patients who present with mitral stenosis secondary to severe mitral annular calcification and a corresponding need for repair due to the nature of increased friable myocardium present within these tissues. Atrioventricular dissociation associated with left ventricular rupture after mitral valve replacement occurs in approximately 1.2% of cases, and of those cases there is up to a 75% mortality rate even when appropriate surgical techniques are performed [1].