Over the last half century, clinicians have employed several means to advance our knowledge of the causes and consequences of valvular heart disease. Invasive cardiac catheterization provided valuable information about hemodynamics, 2-dimensional (2D) echocardiography (echo) allowed direct visualization of the valvular apparatus and cardiac chambers, and Doppler echocardiography afforded a noni...

OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that valvular calcium deposition, pro-osteogenic signaling, and function can be altered in mice with advanced aortic valve disease. METHODS AND RESULTS "Reversa" mice were given a Western-type diet for 12 months and screened for the presence of aortic valve stenosis. Mice with advanced valve disease were assigned to 1 of 2 groups: (1) those with continued prog...

Endothelial cells are critical mediators of haemodynamic forces and as such are important foci for initiation of vascular pathology. Valvular leaflets are also lined with endothelial cells, though a similar role in mechanosensing has not been demonstrated. Recent evidence has shown that valvular endothelial cells respond morphologically to shear stress, and several studies have implicated valvu...

introduction: rheumatic heart disease still remains one of the leading causes of congestive heart failure and death owing to valvular pathologies, in developing countries. valve replacement still remains the treatment of choice in such patients.the aim of this study wasto analyze the postoperative outcome of  double valve replacement (mitral and aortic ) in patients of rheumatic heart disease. ...

Valvular heart disease is a rare complication of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), with most cases associated with polyarticular JRA. The aortic valve is most commonly affected, and valvular involvement occurs months or years after the onset of JRA. Reported cases of valvular heart disease in patients with JRA in a pauciarticular pattern are rare. We report a case of severe aortic insufficie...

This study demonstrates seasonal variations of birth dates in children with congenital valvular heart disease and in adults dying from valvular heart disease. The findings are based on the 1989-98 Swiss EUROCAT data, and on 1969-94 Swiss mortality records. Seasonality was tested with aggregated monthly data using Edwards' procedure. Both data sets showed excesses between December and March, con...

PSEUDOXANTHOMA ELASTICUM has been described as a systemic disease that affects the skin, the eyes, and the blood vessels. That it may directly involve the heart and cause significant valvular disease is not so well known. Histologic changes in the endocardium and heart valves have been described'-" but valvular heart disease has not been a clinical problem in these cases. After studying the fol...