title: Rheumatic aortic regurgitation in a patient with large congenital fenestrations in all three leaflets.
abstract: Fenestrations of the aortic valve rarely produce significant valvular regurgitation. These are typically described as incidental findings with little clinical significance because they generally lie above their closing edges. Rarely however, when unusually large or multiple, they can lead to massive aortic regurgitation (AR), mostly in patients with chronic hypertension and/or aortic annular dilation. We operated a 52 year old normotensive male with chronic rheumatic AR and found large fenestrations in all three aortic cusps, hardly ever reported in rheumatic valvular involvement in the literature.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ahmadreza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jodati
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Babak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kazemi
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Naser
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Safaei
keywords: Aortic Regurgitation; Aortic Valve; Valve Fenestration
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