Development of markers of valve stiffness for prediction of hemodynamic progression of aortic stenosis.

Degenerative aortic valve stenosis is a progressive disease with an unpredictable rate of progression. Early changes in the degenerative process include thickening and stiffening of the leaflets, reflected in altered rates of opening and closing. Methods have been proposed to measure this in vivo and relate it to the rate of disease progression. In this in vitro study, we tested the hypothesis that changes in ambient hemodynamics that might contribute to the wear and tear process that mediates the degenerative process affect valve mechanics, and that this is reflected in the rates of valve opening and closing. Evidence supporting this hypothesis is presented and an alternative method to account for these effects is proposed.