Background:

Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is a congenital heart disease that can be associated with aortic and/or valve complications. It is important to identify risk groups for a closer follow up and timely intervention.

Objective:

The aim of this work is to analyze the impact of clinical and morphological valve characteristics in the development of moderate/severe (significant) aortic valve dysfunction and in the incidence of major cardiovascular events in adults with BAV.

Methods:

Consecutive patients with diagnosis of non-syndromic BAV (2010-2019) followed up at our institution were incorporated in the study. Clinical and echocardiographic information was prospectively collected. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify clinical and morphological characteristics that predict significant valve dysfunction and major cardiovascular events (death/surgery/aortic syndrome). A p value <0.05 was considered significant.

Results:

Three-hundred patients (44.3 ± 15.3 years, 71% men), the majority with type I BAV and presence of raphe (79.6% and 77%, respectively) were included. Mean age at diagnosis was 36.3±16.2 years, and 84 patients (31.2%) presented significant aortic valve dysfunction at the onset of the study. Twenty-three patients required cardiac surgery (7.7%) and 3 died (1%) during a follow-up of 4.9±1.7 years. At the end of the followup period, 101 (33.6%) patients had significant aortic valve dysfunction. The presence of at least 1 of the following factors: valve prolapse, baseline aortic valve calcification >1 and age >50 years were associated with lower significant aortic valve dysfunction and major cardiovascular event-free survival.

Conclusions:

In our cohort, we observed a high incidence of events associated with BAV. Among the variables analyzed, the presence of at least 1 risk factor was associated with lower event-free survival and significant dysfunction at 4.9 years.

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