Family History of Aortic Stenosis

       I have to have an aortic valve replacement soon, so the Dr. tells me. I was told that this does not run in famlies. My family history consist of an uncle, aunt, father, 2 brothers and now me is this just coincidence.                       Thank You   Kris

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

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Dear Kristine,
Thank you for your question.  While it is true that aortic stenosis itself is not hereditary there are some rare genetic metabolism diseases that may lead to aortic stenosis.  Two rare possibilities are called alkaptonuria and Mucolipidoses (ML III) also called Pseudo-Hurler polydystrophy.  If you think your family may have one of these conditions a good geneticist at a university hospital could help in making the diagnosis.
I hope you find this information useful.  Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only.  Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies.  Please feel free to write back with additional questions.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter.  The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.