Aortic Complications After Bicuspid Aortic Valve

Background. Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is a risk factor for aortic dissection and aneurysm. We studied patients with BAV and tricuspid aortic valve (TAV) to evaluate long-term changes in the ascending aorta after aortic valve replacement (AVR). Patients and Methods. One hundred consecutive pa-tients were allocated into two groups according to the presence of BAV (group A, 50 patients) or TAV (group B, 50 patients). Mean age was 51 12 years in group A, and 50 years 12 in group B. No patients had hypertension or Marfan’s syndrome. Until July 2001, mean follow-up was 234 47 months in group A and 241 43 months in group B. Results. Five patients (10%, CL 5.7 to 13.9) in group A suffered late acute aortic dissection. Acute aortic dissec