Natural history of very severe aortic stenosis.
BACKGROUND
We sought to assess the outcome of asymptomatic patients with very severe aortic stenosis.


RESULTS
We prospectively followed 116 consecutive asymptomatic patients (57 women; age, 67 + or - 16 years) with very severe isolated aortic stenosis defined by a peak aortic jet velocity (AV-Vel) > or = 5.0 m/s (average AV-Vel, 5.37 + or - 0.35 m/s; valve area, 0.63 + or - 0.12 cm(2)). During a median follow-up of 41 months (interquartile range, 26 to 63 months), 96 events occurred (indication for aortic valve replacement, 90; cardiac deaths, 6). Event-free survival was 64%, 36%, 25%, 12%, and 3% at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 years, respectively. AV-Vel but not aortic valve area was shown to independently affect event-free survival. Patients with an AV-Vel > or = 5.5 m/s had an event-free survival of 44%, 25%, 11%, and 4% at 1, 2, 3, and 4 years, respectively, compared with 76%, 43%, 33%, and 17% for patients with an AV-Vel between 5.0 and 5.5 m/s (P<0.0001). Six cardiac deaths occurred in previously asymptomatic patients (sudden death, 1; congestive heart failure, 4; myocardial infarction, 1). Patients with an initial AV-Vel > or = 5.5 m/s had a higher likelihood (52%) of severe symptom onset (New York Heart Association or Canadian Cardiovascular Society class >II) than those with an AV-Vel between 5.0 and 5.5 m/s (27%; P=0.03).


CONCLUSIONS
Despite being asymptomatic, patients with very severe aortic stenosis have a poor prognosis with a high event rate and a risk of rapid functional deterioration. Early elective valve replacement surgery should therefore be considered in these patients.
Rosenhek
Raphael
R
Department of Cardiology, Vienna General Hospital, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria. raphael.rosenhek@meduniwien.ac.at
Zilberszac
Robert
R
Schemper
Michael
M
Czerny
Martin
M
Mundigler
Gerald
G
Graf
Senta
S
Bergler-Klein
Jutta
J
Grimm
Michael
M
Gabriel
Harald
H
Maurer
Gerald
G
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D002423:Cause of Death; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index