LUTEMBACHER SYNDROME

Course overview

LUTEMBACHER SYNDROME (LS) WAS FIRST DESCRIBED IN A LETTER BY ANATOMIST JOHANN FRIEDRICH MECKEL IN 1750. CORVISART WHO LATER DESCRIBED THE ASSOCIATION OF ATRIAL SEPTAL DEFECT (ASD) AND MITRAL STENOSIS (MS) IN 1811. HOWEVER, THE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE ACCOUNT OF THESE TWO DEFECTS WAS REPORTED BY A FRENCH PHYSICIAN RENE LUTEMBACHER IN 1916, AFTER WHOM THIS SYNDROME WAS EVENTUALLY NAMED. HE DESCRIBED HIS FIRST CASE OF THIS SYNDROME IN A 61-YEAR-OLD WOMAN AND ATTRIBUTED THE MITRAL VALVULAR LESION TO CONGENITAL MITRAL STENOSIS (MS). THE DEFINITION OF LS HAS CHANGED MANY TIMES SINCE THEN. OPINION DIFFERS REGARDING WHAT LESIONS THE SYNDROME SHOULD INCLUDE. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF LUTEMBACHER SYNDROME AND HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN ITS MANAGEMENT.