Quadricuspid aortic valve associated with aortic stenosis and regurgitation: report of a case and a review of the literature.
Quadricuspid aortic valve (QAV) is a rare congenital heart valve disease, and more than half of QAV patients have severe aortic regurgitation (AR). We describe the case of a 66-year-old woman with QAV detected by transthoracic echocardiography during a medical checkup. Doppler echocardiographic examination showed mild aortic stenosis and mild AR. The patient has been under routine medical review without medication therapy. At follow-up echocardiographic examinations over a 4-year period, no significant changes in severity of aortic stenosis or AR were found. The clinical and functional characteristics of 192 cases of QAV were reviewed. The functional status of the QAV was known in 144 cases; of these, only 13 (9%) had both aortic stenosis and AR.
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Yuka
Y
Yamagishi
Department of Diagnostic Ultrasound and Medical Electronics, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, South-1, West-16, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, 060-8543, Japan. yuda@sapmed.ac.jp.
Satoshi
S
Yuda
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Kazufumi
K
Tsuchihashi
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Shigeyuki
S
Saitoh
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Tetsuji
T
Miura
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Nobuyuki
N
Ura
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Kazuaki
K
Shimamoto
aortic regurgitation; aortic stenosis; quadricuspid aortic valve; two-dimensional echocardiography