Caseous Calcification of the Mitral Valve Annulus Simulating an Intramyocardial Mass at Autopsy

Abstract

Mitral annular calcification is an asymptomatic chronic degenerative process of the mitral valve, which can occur in the elderly population, associated with atherosclerosis. When it is extensive it is termed caseous calcification of the mitral valve annulus. We illustrate the pathology of this entity in the heart in an 80-year-old man, in whom it presented as a large intramyocardial cystic mass found at autopsy.