emDocs - jan 6, 2017 - Authors: Zack J and Long B - Edited by: Koyfman A
"Key Takeaways:
- In patients presenting with sudden onset dyspnea, always keep a valvular emergency on the differential.
- Murmurs may not be audible in the acute setting.
- Definitive management is surgery more often than not, so get consultants on board early.
- If you have a sick patient with a native valve emergency consider nitroprusside +/- dobutamine.
- If present, don’t forget to treat the underlying cause of aortic regurgitation (aortic dissection, endocarditis), mitral regurgitation (ischemia, endocarditis), or prosthetic valve emergency (endocarditis, thrombosis)."