Stuck Mitral Valve with Thromboembolic Stroke Managed with Anticoagulation and Mechanical Thrombectomy

Heart valve replacements are commonly performed these days in India with mitral valve replacement being most common of all. Thromboemboli are a major source of morbidity in patients with prosthetic heart valves. The incidence of clinically recognizable events ranges from 0.6% to 2.3% per patient-year. Mechanical valve thrombosis is another common complication, incidence of which is estimated at 0.3% to 1.3% per patient-year in developed countries, but as high as 6% per patient-year in developing countries. Management of either complication in these patients requires adequate knowledge and clinical experience. We here describe a rare case of a patient who came to us with both complication of stuck mitral valve prosthesis and embolic stroke simultaneously. We here discuss the approach, monitoring and management of these patients, the clinical difficulties we faced in our case, immediate and short term prognosis of our patient.