INFECTIVE PERIVALVULAR ABSCESS OF THE AORTIC RING - ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND CLINICAL COURSE

Aortic ring abscess is a serious complication of infective endocarditis that may be diagnosed by 2-dimensional echocardiography when an echocardiographic-free space or focal aortic root thickening is shown.1-4 Two related complications that markedly worsen prognosis in endocarditis are new atrioventricular conduction block and pseudoaneurysm formation.5-7 Using 2-dimensional echocardiography prospectively in 10 patients with endocarditis, we correlated the location of aortic ring abscesses with the development of atrioventricular conduction block and observed the development of 6 aortic ring pseudoaneurysms. © 1990.