title: Aortic dimensions in relation to bicuspid and tricuspid aortic valve pathology.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The relationship between aortic valve pathology and the aortic root and ascending aortic dimensions in cardiac surgery patients is unclear, and its clarification was the objective of this study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The severity of valve pathology, whether aortic valve stenosis (AS) or aortic valve regurgitation (AR), and the aortic dimensions (aortic root and ascending aorta) were prospectively evaluated with echocardiography in 500 consecutive patients with tricuspid aortic valve (TAV) or bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) who had undergone surgery due to aortic valve and/or ascending aortic disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The distribution of valve pathology was similar in TAV and BAV patients when the aorta was non-dilated. However, when the aorta was dilated, AS was seen predominantly in BAV patients (n = 76) compared to TAV patients (n = 2). In TAV and BAV patients with non-dilated aortas, an increased severity of valve pathology was associated with smaller dimensions of the aortic root and the ascending aorta. In TAV and BAV patients with dilated aortas, an increase in the severity of AR was associated with a decreasing dimension of the ascending aorta but an increasing dimension of the aortic root. In BAV patients with aneurysm, the severity of AS was associated with a decreased dimension of the aortic root and the ascending aorta.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with AS and ascending aortic dilatation almost exclusively have a BAV. An increasing severity of valve pathology was related to decreasing dimensions of the aortic root and the ascending aorta, and the pattern was strikingly similar in TAV and BAV patients. The high frequency of ascending aortic dilatations in BAV patients cannot be explained by the valve pathology.
authors: Veronica
authors: V
authors: Jackson
authors: Johan
authors: J
authors: Petrini
authors: Maria J
authors: MJ
authors: Eriksson
authors: Kenneth
authors: K
authors: Caidahl
authors: Per
authors: P
authors: Eriksson
authors: Anders
authors: A
authors: Franco-Cereceda
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001011:Aorta / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D001014:Aortic Aneurysm / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D000082882:Bicuspid Aortic Valve Disease; D004108:Dilatation, Pathologic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014261:Tricuspid Valve / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D014463:Ultrasonography