Re-emphasis on the role of echocardiography in diagnosis of aortic root surgery complications

Abstract

Background: Aortic pseudoaneurysm is an infrequent complication of ascending aorta surgery.

Cases: This is a report of two cases that underwent the Bentall procedure that presented with large pseudoaneurysms.

Conclusion: Use of multimodality imaging after Bentall surgery has been advocated for the detection of surgical complications. Although 3D CT angiography has the highest diagnostic accuracy, familiarity with transthoracic echocardiographic finding in these patients will lead to earlier diagnosis.

Keywords: Bentall procedure using valved aortic homograft; Bentall surgery; CT angiography; aortic pseudoaneurysm; echocardiography; multimodality imaging.