Background
Libman-Sacks endocarditis, characterized by Libman-Sacks vegetations, is common in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and is commonly complicated with embolic cerebrovascular disease. Thus, accurate detection of Libman-Sacks vegetations may lead to early therapy and prevention of their associated complications. Although two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (2D-TEE) has high diagnostic value for detection of Libman-Sacks vegetations, three-dimensional TEE (3D-TEE) may allow improved detection, characterization, and clinical correlations of Libman-Sacks vegetations.
Methods
29 SLE patients (27 women, age 34±12 years) prospectively underwent 40 paired 3D-TEE and 2D-TEE studies and assessment of cerebrovascular disease manifested as acute clinical neurologic syndromes, neurocognitive dysfunction, or focal brain injury on MRI. Initial and repeat studies in patients were intermixed in a blinded manner with paired studies from healthy controls, de-identified, coded, and independently interpreted by experienced observers unaware of patients’ clinical and imaging data.
Results
3D-TEE as compared to 2D-TEE studies were more often positive for mitral or aortic valve vegetations, detected more vegetations per study, and determined larger size of vegetations (all p≤0.03). Also, 3D-TEE detected more vegetations on the anterior mitral leaflet, anterolateral and posteromedial scallops, and ventricular side or both atrial and ventricular sides of the leaflets (all p<0.05). In addition, 3D-TEE detected more vegetations on the aortic valve left and non-coronary cusps, coronary cusps’ tip and margins, and aortic side or both aortic and ventricular sides of the cusps (all p≤0.01). Furthermore, 3D-TEE detected more often associated mitral or aortic valves’ commissural fusion (p=0.002). Finally, 3D-TEE detected more vegetations in patients with cerebrovascular disease (p=0.01).
Conclusion
3D-TEE provides clinically relevant additive information that complements 2D-TEE for the detection, characterization, and association with cerebrovascular disease of Libman-Sacks endocarditis.