Short-Term Regression of Left Ventricular Mass After Aortic Valve Replacement in Aortic Stenosis With Left Ventricular Concentric

In aortic stenosis (AS), left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) isone of the fundamental mechanisms of adaptation as a re-sult of an increased afterload [1]. Even though initially this is an useful compensatory process, it may lead to progressive myocardial failure [2] due to the increased susceptibility of the hypertrophied myocardium to ischaemia [3]. Aortic valve replacement (AVR) has produced a dramatic change in the natural history of AS. In this context, measurement of the degree of LVH in patients with AS, particularly the assess-ment of the regression of such hypertrophy after valve re-placement is of major importance [4]. In the previous studies [5–7], it was found that LVH regression is a time-consuming process and occurs over a period of several months. The aim of the present study is to clarify the degree of short-term reversal of LVH after 3 months of AVR. To this end we designed a prospective study in which we planned t