Normalizing arterial blood pressure in patients with aortic stenosis does not prevent grading discrepancies between pre-cardiopulmonary bypass transesophageal echocardiography and transthoracic echocardiography.

Background: Aortic stenosis (AS) grading discrepancies exist between pre-cardiopulmonary (pre-CPB) transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and preoperative transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Prior studies have not systematically controlled blood pressure.

Aims: We hypothesized that normalizing arterial blood pressure during pre-CPB TEE for patients undergoing valve replacement for AS would result in equivalent grading measurements when compared to TTE.

Asymptomatic Severe Aortic Stenosis and Noncardiac Surgery.

The patient with severe asymptomatic aortic stenosis presenting for elective noncardiac surgery poses a unique challenge. These patients are not traditionally offered surgical aortic valve replacement or transcatheter aortic valve replacement given their lack of symptoms; however, they are at increased risk for postsurgical complications given the severity of their aortic stenosis. The decision to proceed with elective noncardiac surgery should be based on individual and surgical risk factors.