EDITORIAL

Assessment of aortic stenosis severity: check the valve but don’t forget the arteries!

Philippe Pibarot, Jean G Dumesnil

Laval Hospital Research Center/Québec Heart Institute, Laval University, Québec, Quebec, Canada

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr P Pibarot
Laval Hospital Research Center, 2725 Chemin Sainte-Foy, Québec, Quebec, Canada G1V-4G5; philippe.pibarot@med.ulaval.ca

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See article on 848

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Abbreviations: AS, aortic stenosis; AVA, aortic valve area; LV, left ventricular

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The accurate assessment of the haemodynamic severity of stenosis is crucial for clinical decision making in patients with aortic stenosis (AS).¹ Over the past decades, echocardiography has become the clinical standard for the evaluation of AS severity. Several indices have been used for this purpose including transvalvular velocity and gradient, aortic valve area (AVA), valvular resistance, dimensionless velocity index, left ventricular (LV) stroke work loss and the energy loss coefficient. Unfortunately, these indices are all potentially affected by the haemodynamic state of the patient. Numerous studies have shown that changes in transvalvular flow rate may influence the indices of stenosis severity measured by echocardiography or catheter.^2–4 Besides flow rate, there are potentially other haemodynamic factors that may affect the stenotic indices. The purpose of the study by Little et al⁵ (see page 848) reported in this issue of Heart was to examine the effects of systemic arterial hypertension . . . [Full text of this article]

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Relevant Article

Impact of blood pressure on the Doppler echocardiographic assessment of severity of aortic stenosis

Stephen H Little, Kwan-Leung Chan, and Ian G Burwash
Heart 2007 93: 848-855. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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