OBJECTIVE To compare the frequency of valvar and supravalvar aortic stenosis in homozygous and heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH). DESIGN Analysis of life time cholesterol exposure and prevalence of aortic atherosclerosis in 84 consecutive cases attending a lipid clinic. SETTING A tertiary referral centre in London. PATIENTS Outpatients with FH (six homozygous, 78 heterozygo...

Because they had irreversible damage to the left ventricular myocardium none of 12 patients with critical aortic stenosis diagnosed prenatally survived after postnatal treatment. This experience prompted three attempts at intrauterine balloon dilatation of the aortic valve in two fetuses with this condition. On each attempt the balloon catheter was successfully delivered to the left ventricle. ...

EPIDEMIOLOGY Predisposing factors for infective endocarditis are cardiac abnormalities that disrupt the endocardium by means of a jet injury, as well as the presence of blood-borne microorganisms that colonize these abnormal surfaces. Congenitally bicuspid aortic valve is the most common predisposing lesion for endocarditis of the aortic valve. In addition, congenital abnormalities of the aorti...

Aortic valve replacement with mechanical or biological prosthesis with extracorporeal circulation is the gold-standard for the treatment of calcific aortic stenosis. Although the results are excellent with the conventional approach some elderly patients, with multiple high-risk comorbid conditions, reoperations and severe left ventricular dysfunction have high surgical risk. During the last yea...

We experienced a successful surgical Williams’s syndrome case of extended aortoplasty by means of Doty’s method (two sinus reconstructions) for congenital supravalvular aortic stenosis. Case was 29-year-old woman, who had no complaint except heart murmur and dyspnea. The retrograde aortography and Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA) demonstrated localized stenosis just above the aortic valve,...

As the population ages, the prevalence of aortic stenosis is increasing. There is an unmet clinical need for the treatment of aortic stenosis in high-risk patients, who are often older, frail and have multiple comorbidities. Percutaneous aortic valve replacement (PAVR) is a new and innovative technique for the management of high-risk patients with aortic stenosis. There are currently two device...

OBJECTIVES Transcatheter aortic valve implantation has emerged as a valuable option to treat patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis, who are not being considered for surgery because of significant comorbidities. Concerns exist over treating patients who have previously undergone mitral valve surgery for possible interference between the percutaneous aortic valve and the mitral prosthe...

Transcatheter valve implantation is a novel interventional technique, which was developed as an  alternative therapy for surgical aortic valve replacement in inoperable patients with severe aortic stenosis. Despite limited experience in using transcatheter valve implantation for mitral and aortic regurgitation, transapical transcatheter aortic valve implantation and valve-in-valve implantation ...

OBJECTIVES We evaluated transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in high-risk patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) stenosis. BACKGROUND TAVI shows promise in the treatment of severe stenosis of triscupid aortic valves, especially in high-risk patients. However, BAV stenosis has been considered a contraindication to TAVI. METHODS Eleven patients (age 52 to 90 years) with symptomat...

AIMS To determine whether mitral annular calcification and aortic valve calcification, with or without stenosis, are expressions of atherosclerotic disease. METHODS The incidence of atherosclerotic risk factors was analysed in patients with mitral annular calcification and aortic valve calcification and in control patients from a prospective echocardiographic database of 8160 consecutive pati...