Bicuspid aortic valve

Normally, the aortic valve has three valves. In 1886, it was noted that the asteroidal aortic valve is a fairly common finding in postmortem research and is much more common than other congenital heart defects. This developmental anomaly contributes to the appearance of other congenital malformations: coarctation of the aorta, an interventricular septal defect, aortic stenosis, etc. The aortic bivalve valve in the general population is 1%.Despite the benign course of the defect, progressive thickening of the valve flaps arises with age, with the development of stenosis( constriction) of the aortic aperture, endocarditis( inflammation of the inner shell of the heart) joins, calcium salts are deposited in valve flaps, valve failure develops( the flaps are not completely closed, andthe blood rushes in the opposite direction to the normal current).In children, the valves can remain unchanged, and such a valve functions as a normal tricuspid. If the leaflets are small, their full opening is not possible, and thus the narrowing effect appears. Too elongated leaflets sag into the cavity of the left ventricle and contribute to the development over time of the failure of the valves. The latter can join hypertension.

The doctor suspects an anomaly in the form of a bicuspid aortic valve when listening to the characteristic noise. Confirm the diagnosis of a two-fold aortic valve helps the heart ultrasound.

There are several methods of eliminating coarctation of the aorta, the choice of which is mainly determined by the age of the patients, i.e., the initial diameter of the aorta. In newborns and young children, the operation of aortoplasty with the aid of a subclavian artery became widespread. If in the beginning the operation included the intersection of the subclavian artery leading to an insufficient growth of the left arm, recently M. Meier and co-authors( 1986) proposed a new technique for eliminating coarctation of the aorta by using the left subclavian artery with preservation of blood flow along the left arm. In this case, the maximum excretion of the left subclavian artery and the branches departing from it is performed. The authors of this technique operated on patients aged from 2 months to 25 years, but believe that it is preferable to perform it in young children.