Progression of the Ascending Aorta Diameter After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation and Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement in Patients With Bicuspid Aortic Valve.

Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most common congenital heart defect in adults, affecting 1.3% of the population worldwide. Although valve dysfunction is the most common complication of a bicuspid aortic valve, there is evidence of association of BAV with a specific disease pathology involving the aorta called bicuspid aortopathy. This condition has been proved to predispose to dilatation of all the segments of the proximal aorta both on a genetic and a hemodynamic base, with a reported prevalence of approximately 50% of patients with BAV. Aortic dissection is therefore the most feared complication of BAV aortopathy and BAV itself, but despite a higher relative risk that increases with age, the absolute incidence of aortic dissection remains low.

In elderly population the prevalence of BAV seems to be relatively high as well (incidence of 22% in a reported cohort of octogenarian patients). In the era of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), the knowledge of BAV incidence in the elderly is extremely important, assuming that this condition has been considered for years a contraindication to percutaneous procedure by the most. Nevertheless, TAVR has been proved to be a feasible and safe procedure in specific patients deemed at high surgical risk.

As BAV dysfunction tends to reveal earlier than tricuspid ones, when patients are referred to surgery for aortic valve replacement, ascending aorta is often still normal-sized, not deserving surgical treatment, according to current guidelines. It remains controversial whether there is need for concomitant aortic surgery among patients with BAV dysfunction and moderately-dilated aorta, as some authors reported progressive aortic dilatation and aortic dissection even after AVR.

So far, it has never been investigated and there is no information regarding possible differences in the rate of aneurysmal progression in patients with bicuspid aortic valve undergoing surgical or percutaneous aortic valve replacement. A follow-up Computed Tomography (CT) scan is therefore indicated in these patients as chest CT scan is the gold standard for the exact measurement of the aortic diameters.

Aim of this prospective, non-randomized observational study is to assess whether there is a progressive dilation of ascending aorta after surgical or transcatheter aortic valve replacement using CT and echocardiographic imaging in patients with a stenotic BAV who undergo surgical or transcatheter aortic valve replacement.