Abstract
A 67-year-old woman with a history of mechanical valve replacement;
after the dental procedure, she developed dyspnea, malleolar edema, and
fever. The 2D transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) showed no evidence of
valve obstruction, mild paravalvular leak, and no vegetations. In the 3D
TEE, the presence of masses suggestive of vegetations on the auricular
surface of the prosthesis was suspected which were more precisely
defined with transillumination rendering. This technique allowed us to
observe with precision the vegetations that were not visualized with
traditional methods. This highlights its usefulness in patients with
prosthetic valves where infective endocarditis is a serious
complication.