Embolization of a huge tricuspid valve bacterial vegetation

A case of a woman who had tricuspid valve bacterial endocarditis is presented. Her course was complicated by persistent disseminated intravascular coagulation and acute renal failure, followed by pulmonary embolization of the vegetation. Transthoracic echocardiography showed almost complete obstruction of the right pulmonary artery. The case demonstrates the impressive size to which right-sided infective vegetations can progress and the relative paucity of symptoms and hemodynamic derangements with which they may be associated, even in the context of potentially life-threatening complications. (J Am Soc Echocardiogr 2002;15:185-7.)