Children's Heart Institute | Heart Defects: Aortic Valve Stenosis

The Children's Heart Institute - Hasan Abdallah, M.D.

Congenital Heart Defects: Aortic Valve Stenosis

Aortic Valve Stenosis is a narrowing of the door (Aortic Valve) leading from the large left front chamber (Left Ventricle) to the lungs. When this door is narrowed it does not let enough blood go to the body. This will make the Left Ventricle chamber very thick.

If you look at the Heart House you will notice that the Aortic Valve door is narrow. The Left Ventricle room is congested and overcrowded and the room is larger and pushing the walls into the other chambers.

The above picture shows the Left Ventricle during a contraction (systole) as the blood is ejected through the Aortic Valve and encounters that the Aortic Valve is narrowed it forms a jet of blood as it trys to squeeze out of the narrowed valve. This jet of blood hits against the wall of the Ascending Aorta. As this jet hits the wall of the Aorta it makes it dialated. This is called Post Stenotic Dilation.

This photo shows the Aortic Valve which in this photo only has 2 cusps. Normally the Aortic Valve has 3 cusps. This condition is called Bicuspid Aortic Valve. Most of the time this is not narrowed, but in this patient it was. It was associated with higher left ventricular pressure trying to squeeze the blood out of the narrowed Aortic Valve.

This photo is a picture of the whole aortic arch of the same patient. This condition you can see there was also Coarctation of the Aorta which was repaired. This condition is an interesting association with the Bicuspic Aortic Valve. Most of the time if there is an obstruction high up in the stream there is also an obstruction down the stream at the level of the Aortic Arch. So, when the doctors look and found that your child may have a narrowing at the Aortic Valve they also look at the Aortic Arch and all its branches to be sure there are no abnormalities or narrowings.

In this picture the Left Subclavian Artery was taken to reinforce the previous narrowing in the Aorta and now the area looks fairly patent and open after the surgery. Please refer to the Subclavian Flap Operation in Coarcation of the Aorta for more information.

Problems with the Walls:
Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) : Fix | Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) : Fix

Problems with the Doors:
Tricuspid Valve Atresia : Fix 1 | Fix 2 | Fix 3 | Ebstein's Anomaly
Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome : Fix 1 | Fix 2 | Fix 3
Pulmonary Valve Stenosis | Aortic Valve Stenosis

Problems with the Chambers:
Hypoplastic Right Ventricle

Problems with the Hallways:
Coarctation of the Aorta : Fix | Branch Pulmonary Artery Stenosis
Transposition of the Great Arteries : Fixed
Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connection

Problems with the Plumbing:
Anomalous Origin of the Coronary Arteries from the Pulmonary Artery

Problems Involving More Than One Part of the Heart:
Tetralogy of Fallot : Fixed
Truncus Arteriosus : Fixed | Common Atrioventricular Canal : Fix 1 | Fix 2
Ductus Arteriosus : Fix 1 | Fix 2

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