Aortic stenosis is the progressive narrowing of the aortic valve. Calcific aortic stenosis, in particular, is an active atherosclerotic pathology where inflammation, fibrosis, and calcification are involved in the progressive narrowing of the effective aortic valve area in the absence of any commissural fusion. In contrast, rheumatic aortic stenosis is due to the fusion of the commissures with valvular scarring and calcification. Aortic stenosis causes an impedance to the antegrade blood flow not only at the level of the aortic valve itself but also at the subvalvular (below the aortic valve) or supravalvular (above the aortic valve) levels. As a result, chronic pressure overload develops in the left ventricle. The left ventricle undergoes hypertrophy as an initial adaptive mechanism to overcome the increased afterload. This compensatory mechanism ends up being maladaptive by causing apoptosis of the hypertrophied myocytes and subsequent heart failure. Hence, aortic stenosis is a progressive valvular disease which progression depends mainly on the degree of the narrowing of the aortic valve as well as on the maladaptive ventricular wall response. Gross anatomy dissection may be used as a diagnostic tool in the evaluation of aortic stenosis. Common findings associated with aortic stenosis include left ventricular hypertrophy and heart block.
Aortic stenosis pathophysiology
Aortic regurgitation pathophysiology
Thoracic aortic aneurysm pathophysiology
Tricuspid stenosis pathophysiology
Aortic sclerosis risk factors
Tricuspid regurgitation pathophysiology
Bicuspid aortic stenosis pathophysiology
Left ventricular aneurysm risk factors