BACKGROUND Concomitant mitral regurgitation (MR) is frequently seen in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR) for aortic stenosis. This study was undertaken to characterize the magnitude of MR in these patients and identify factors associated with significant postoperative change. METHODS Between 2002 and 2006, 391 patients with stenotic AV disease but no structural mitral valve d...

A 76-year-old man with severe degenerative aortic stenosis, coronary artery disease, and progressive congestive heart failure with severe systolic dysfunction underwent implantation of a Heartmate II left ventricular assist device (LVAD; Thoratec Corporation, Pleasanton, CA) after developing refractory cardiogenic shock. Because there was moderate aortic insufficiency (AI), the aortic valve was...

The anterior leaflet of the mitral valve is partly continuous through a fibrous membrane with the aortic valve. Lying immediately subjacent to the aortic valve, the mitral valve and its chordae may become secondarily infected in instances of primary aortic valvular bacterial endocarditis. Destructive changes of the anterior mitral leaflet or mitral chordae may lead to mitral insufficiency. The ...

A 66-year-old male patient, prior hypertension, a history of orthopnea, palpitations and chest pain of sudden onset, which was diagnosed as spontaneous avulsion of aortic valve commissure and consequent aortic insufficiency progressing to acute left heart failure refractory to medical treatment. The patient underwent early surgical replacement of the aortic valve by a bioprosthesis, and present...

Blunt trauma followed by aortic valvular insufficiency occurs rarely. Valve replacement or repair has most often taken place several months or years after injury; only a few cases have been reported of acute operative intervention performed within a few days after injury. However, we herein report two cases of isolated aortic valvular trauma in young men, in whom fulminant pulmonary edema ensue...

Aortic stenosis consists in a narrowing or incomplete opening of the aortic valve. This typically alters the blood flow, causing turbulent and/or complex flow jets. Such jets display peak velocities considerably higher than those of normal flow, and a much broader range of flow velocities. Another form of aortic valve disease is aortic insufficiency, or regurgitation. This condition occurs when...

Bicuspid aortic valve is traditionally considered an innocuous congenital anomaly. Due to a better and widespread availability of non-invasive imaging techniques, it has come to the fore that 30% of these cases develop complications, viz., valve abnormality (aortic regurgitation and stenosis), and aneurysm of aortic root and ascending aorta. Sinus of Valsalva aneurysm is an uncommon complicatio...

OBJECTIVE: In animal models of aortic insufficiency, the right common carotid artery is typically used to damage valve leaflets; this strategy impedes subsequent assessments of left ventricular hemodynamics. The present study aimed to establish an alternative technique that would allow subsequent left ventricular catheterization to monitor sequential hemodynamics in rats with aortic insufficien...

Among 119 cases of fatal dissecting aneurysm of the aorta, exclusive of those iatrogenically caused or associated with arachnodactyly or aortic stenosis, there were observed 11 cases of congenital bicuspid aortic valve (9%). The ages ranged from 17 to 69 years, five of the patients being 29 years old or younger. Among the latter, three had coarctation of the aorta and one had Turner's syndrome ...

  Introduction: Aortic valve sclerosisis considered as a manifestation of coronary atherosclerosis. Recent studies demonstrated an association between aortic valve sclerosis and obstructive coronary artery disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluatethe correlation betweenaortic valve sclerosis andobstructive coronary artery disease and the extent of coronary artery disease in patients ho...