Dobutamine stress echocardiography unmasks acute worsening of mitral regurgitation with latent left ventricular outflow tract obstruction behind diastolic heart failure in hypertensive heart disease

Abstract

In a 57-year-old woman who was referred as refractory diastolic heart failure, dobutamine stress echocardiography facilitated the diagnosis of acute worsening of mitral regurgitation accompanied with latent left ventricular outflow tract obstruction as a cause of recurrent flash pulmonary edema. Echocardiography revealed the presence of sigmoid septum and concentric left ventricular hypertrophy, being consistent with hypertensive heart disease. Dobutamine induced systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve (SAM) with massive mitral regurgitation, resulting in sudden hypotension with dyspnea. The class Ia antiarrhythmic drug, cibenzoline, reduced the SAM during a dobutamine stress test, followed by no recurrence of flash pulmonary edema. © 2009 The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine.