title: Aortic stenosis. Gender influence on left ventricular geometry and function in patients under 70 years of age.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To verify if adaptive left ventricle (LV) characteristics are also present in individuals under 70 years of age with severe aortic stenosis (AS).
  
  
  METHODS
  The study comprised 40 consecutive patients under 70 years of age with AS and no associated coronary artery disease, referred for valve surgery. Out of the 40 patients, 22 were men and 18 women, and the mean age was 49.8 +/- 14.3 years. Cardiac symptoms, presence of systemic hypertension (SH), functional class according to the New York Heart Association (NYHA), and valve lesion etiology were considered. LV cavity dimensions, ejection fraction (EF), fractional shortening (FS), mass (MS), and relative diastolic thickness (RDT) were examined by Doppler echocardiography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fourteen (63.6%) men and 11 (61.6%) women were classified as NYHA class III/IV (p = 0.70). There was no difference in the frequency of angina, syncope or dyspnea between genders. The incidence of SH was greater in women than in men (10 versus 2, p = 0.0044). Women had a smaller LV end-diastolic diameter index (32.1 +/- 6.5 x 36.5 +/- 5.3 mm/m2, p = 0.027), LV end-systolic diameter index (19.9 +/- 5.9 x 26.5 +/- 6.4 mm/m2, p = 0.0022) and LV mass index (MS) (211.4 +/- 71.1 x 270.9 +/- 74.9 g/m2, p = 0.017) when compared with men. EF (66.2 +/- 13.4 x 52.0 +/- 14.6%, p = 0.0032), FS (37.6 +/- 10.7 x 27.9 +/- 9.6%, p = 0.0046) and RDT (0.58 +/- 0.22 x 0.44 +/- 0.09, p = 0.0095) were significantly greater in women than in men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is the patient gender rather than age that influences left ventricular adaptive response to AS.
authors.affiliation: Hospital de Cardiologia de Laranjeiras, Ministério da Saúde-Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: da Rocha
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: N de N
authors.initials: Nde N
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.forename: R de C
authors.initials: Rde C
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grandelle
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: da Silva
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology*