Aortic valve stenosis

[kadeen]

Is the echocardiogram the only test that can determine if someone has aortic valve stenosis and is it almost always accurate?    Is there any other tests that should be done beside the echo in determining if someone has AVS.

[kadeen]

Thanks.   I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question.   God Bless.

[kenkeith]

Thee isn't any test that is entirely accurate...an echo provides an estimate and may generally be the best test.

An echo observes blood flow in realtime, and stenosis can be estimated by the amount of blood measured in volume passing through the aorta valve.  The image shows the structure of the aorta valve and how it moves during the beating of your heart...does it open wide to let blood flow through? Does it close fully? Is it misshapen? With an echocardiogram, your doctor can also measure the speed and direction of blood flow through your heart.

Your esophagus, the tube that runs from your throat to your stomach, lies close to your heart. . Because the esophagus lies close to your heart, having the transducer there provides a clear picture of the aorta valve and blood flow through it.  Sometimes a chest transducer does not get a clear image due to some body part obstruction or layers of fat, etc.

A cath is an interventional procedure that runs a cath to the heart and there can be a sensor attached that measures internal pressures that would be indicative of the degree of stenosis.