Bi Cusp Aortic Valve Stenosis

[Marianne M]

I am 39 years old and recently diagnosed with Bicuspid Aortic Valve Stenosis

[Marianne M]

Thank you for taking the time to give me a reply so rapidly.  I will follow up on the links that you have provided, at this point I feel like a sponge and I am trying to absorb as much information as I can about my condition in order to have a full arsonal of questions for my current cardiologist.  
I live in the Jacksonville, Fl area and have Shands, St. Vincent's, Flagler, and the Jacksonville Heart Center for resources.  If anybody is familiar with any of these centers and knows of a specialist in this area like always any information is welcome.  
Thanks,
Marianne

[ontherecord]

I must say the responses that I've read on this board are quite remarkable, and I have no doubt that they are very useful not only to the poster of the message, but to all of us who are interested in this field of medicine (or afflicted with similar situations).  In no other forum on this board (and I read them all and even contribute where I can) are the answers to the questions as *on target* as they are on this particular forum.  

Many of the other doctors (or nurses, as the case may be on certain forums) give "general" advice and often do not speak directly to the question presented without some qualifier (i.e., without having seen you, I am unable to ...., or "this is for general educational purposes only..")  

Here, both these doctors push the envelope and seem intent to actually providing useful, reliable, comprehensive, and pertinent information to the patient.

THIS forum is exactly what the Cleveland Clinic sought to accomplish (as evinced through the Mission Statement).  Timely responses from cardiologists at one of the most reputable heart clinics in the world.  Hats off to job well done.

[Avel]

Hi Marianne,
My husband had a highly calcified stenotic bicuspid aortic valve. His valve failed rather abruptly, and he went into full congestive heart failure prior to having his valve replaced. He later was found to have an ascending aortic aneurysm. Only then did we learn that there can be more to bicuspid aortic valve disease than just the valve. Fortunately for him, he had a very successful surgery to replace the aneurysm with a Dacron graft. Not everyone is so fortunate. It is important to know as much as possible about this.

I want to share some information with you. Here is a paper published in the AHA journal Circulation that gives a good overview of this condition. I encourage everyone who is bicuspid to discuss this with their doctors. http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/106/8/900?eaf

And here are some links with additional information
http://www.cedars-sinai.edu/aorta
http://www.cedars-sinai.edu/bicuspid

Best Wishes,
Avel

[CCF-M.D.-RCJ]

Marianne,

Thanks for the post.

Q:"why not perform it now while I am still young and in decent shape?"

Presumably, you should still be in "decent" shape at age 44!  Two reasons to put off surgery: (1) the mechanical valves, if that is what you will need, can deteriorate with time, and (2), if (God forbid) something untoward were to happen to you during surgery, you would have missed out on 5 years time without disability.

Q:"The articles that I