松崎 つや子¹, 本間 博¹, 佐藤 淳子¹, 斎藤 公一¹, 黒田 肇¹, 勝田 悌実², 宗像 一雄², 岸田 浩², 早川 弘一², 林 宏光³, 隈崎 達夫³

Tsuyako MATSUZAKI¹, Hiroshi HOMMA¹, Junko SATOU¹, Kouichi SAITOH¹, Hajime KURODA¹, Masami KATSUTA², Kazuo MUNAKATA², Hiroshi KlSHIDA², Hirokazu HAYAKAWA², Hiromitsu HAYASHI³, Tatsuo KUMAZAKI³

¹日本医科大学生理機能センター, ²日本医科大学生理機能センター第1内科, ³日本医科大学生理機能センター放射線科

¹Department of Physiological Examination Nippon Medical School, ²First Department of Internal Medicine Nippon Medical School, ³Department of Radiology Nippon Medical School

キーワード : Magnetic resonance imaging, Quadricuspid aortic valve, Transesophageal echocardiography

A 64-year-old asymptomatic woman with quadricuspid aortic valve, a rare congenital malformation, is described here. The literature contains few reports of asymptomatic cases. Three cusps of equal size and a smaller accessory cusp were found when transesophageal echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging were used to closely examine the aortic valve of the present patient, and moderate aortic regurgitation was detected at the center of the four cusps. No other cardiac anomaly was detected. Because sudden death is a serious complication of quadricuspid aortic valve, one should make the most of noninvasive tools such as transesophageal echocardiography and magnetic resonanca imaging, even in asymptomatic patients.