Factors related to the need for surgery after the diagnosis of bicuspid aortic valve: one center´s experience under a conservative approach.

Background And Aim: Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) increases the risk of aortic valve dysfunction and ascending aorta aneurysm and, consequently, the need for aortic valve replacement and/or aortic repair. However, there is no universal consensus about the surgical criteria and the predictors for surgery. The aim of this study was to investigate related factors to the need for surgery in the setting of a strict long-term follow-up with relatively conservative surgical criteria.

[Effect of age on valvular dysfunction and aortic dilatation in patients with a bicuspid aortic valve].

Aortic regurgitation was the commonest functional anomaly among younger patients in a group of 63 individuals with a diagnosis of bicuspid aortic valve. With increasing age, a rise in the number with combined aortic valve disease and aortic stenosis was observed. Aortic dilatation was found in 65% of cases.

Aortic valve morphology definition with transthoracic combined with transesophageal echocardiography in a population with high prevalence of bicuspid aortic valve.

Objective: To assess the utility of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) with second harmonic combined with transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in defining aortic valve morphology in a subset of patients with a high prevalence of bicuspid aortic valve.

Methods And Materials: Patients (n = 174) with dilated aortic root were consecutively evaluated using, initially, TTE. The aortic valve structure was assigned as tricuspid, bicuspid or undefined.

Factors related to aortic regurgitation in the presence of a dilated aortic root.

The relation among aortic regurgitation (AR) and aortic root diameter, anthropometric variables, and aortic valve morphology was assessed in 142 patients with dilated aortic roots. The diameter of the aortic root indexed for body surface area and aortic valve sclerosis were related to the presence and severity of AR.

Restrictive left ventricular filling and preserved ventricular function: a limitation in the noninvasive estimation of pulmonary wedge pressure by Doppler echocardiography.

Pulmonary wedge pressure (PWP) can be estimated from the ratio of transmitral early peak flow velocity to flow propagation velocity measured by Doppler. Discrepancies observed in the application of the method prompted us to design this prospective study, aimed at detecting potential limitations of the method. We studied a total of 32 patients admitted to a cardiac intensive care unit, using a Swan-Ganz catheter.