title: The natural history of a non-stenotic bicuspid aortic valve.
abstract: Forty-one patients in whom the diagnosis of a non-stenotic bicuspid aortic valve had been established by noninvasive techniques were followed up for a mean of 10.9 years. During this period, 2 patients required aortic valve replacement because of the development of calcific aortic valve stenosis at the ages of 52 and 64 and 5 others developed evidence of mild aortic valve stenosis. The appearance of calcium in a bicuspid aortic valve suggests the possibility of subsequent calcific aortic stenosis, and patients with this feature should be carefully followed up. Bacterial endocarditis on the aortic valve occurred in 3 patients, one of whom developed severe aortic regurgitation and subsequently died. Patients with a bicuspid aortic valve are at definite risk from bacterial endocarditis and should receive appropriate antibiotic prophylaxis. In 26/41 (63%) patients there was no clinical change during the follow-up period, including 7 of the patients over the age of 50.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000002:abnormalities*; D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000209:etiology; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000209:etiology; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010701:Phonocardiography