BACKGROUND The freestanding aortic root, which is the currently preferred operative technique for pulmonary autografts, is reported to dilate and potentially promote aortic insufficiency, which has led to a controversial debate on the appropriate surgical technique, especially for congenital bicuspid aortic valve disease. Desirable data on the time course of valve function and root dimensions f...

Over the past decade, our concept of the pathogenesis of calcific aortic valve disease has undergone a major transformation. We now recognise that calcific valve disease is the end stage of an active disease process and is not caused by “wear and tear” of the valve tissue. Immunohistochemical studies of trileaflet aortic valves with varying degrees of valve stenosis have demonstrated the presen...

Patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) have an increased risk of developing ascending aortic aneurysm compared with individuals with a tricuspid aortic valve (TAV). A crucial factor involved in vascular remodeling during aneurysm development is transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and impaired signaling of this pathway can alter important extracellular matrix (ECM) protein such us fibronecti...

We are reporting a rare case of a patient with the right coronary artery giving a large collateral vessel to an intercostal artery in a patient with repaired coarctation of aorta. A 64 year-old man with coarctation of the aorta, surgically repaired at 18 years of age, presented with dyspnea. A trans-esophageal echocardiogram revealed a severely stenotic bicuspid aortic valve.

A case of incidental ductal aortic coarctation with left subclavian artery stenosis at the origin, severely calcified and stenotic bicuspid aortic valve, and normal coronary arteries demonstrated by single breath hold dual source computed tomography angiography in a 46-year-old man admitted for acute chest pain is presented.