title: Year in review: bicuspid aortopathy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This article outlines the key research contribution to bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) aortopathy over the past 18 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Investigators have further defined the current gaps in knowledge and the scope of the clinical problem of BAV aortopathy. Support for aggressive resection strategies is waning as evidence mounts to suggest that BAV is not similar to genetic connective tissue disorders with respect to aortic risks. The role of cusp fusion patterns and valve-mediated hemodynamics in disease progression is a major area of discovery. Molecular and cellular mechanisms remain elusive and contradictory.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BAV aortopathy is a major public health problem that remains poorly understood. New insights on valve-mediated hemodynamics using novel imaging modalities may lead to more individualized resection strategies and improved clinical guidelines.
authors.affiliation: aDepartment of Cardiac Sciences, Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta, University of Calgary, Calgary bDivision of Cardiac Surgery, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada cDepartment of Radiology, Northwestern University dDivision of Surgery - Cardiac Surgery, Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, Chicago, USA.
authors.forename: Paul W M
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Fedak
authors.forename: Alex J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Barker
authors.forename: Subodh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Verma
mesh_terms: D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000503:physiopathology; D000082882:Bicuspid Aortic Valve Disease; D057791:Cardiac Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods; D018450:Disease Progression; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans