Neocuspidization of the Pulmonary Valve with Autologous Pericardium in the Adult Patient with Ventricular Septal Defect and Infective Endocarditis: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the risk factors for developing infective endocarditis (IE). Right-sided IE occurs in 5%-10% of endocarditis cases, and pulmonary valve (PV) is involved in less than 2% of such patients. Literature data are few, and optimal treatment methods, indications for surgery, and types of operative techniques are still under debate. We present an adult patient with a rare combination of the ventricular septal defect (VSD) and PV IE who underwent surgical treatment. Neocuspidization with autologous pericardium was utilized for the reconstruction of his PV. We discuss details of this novel surgical technique.