The clinical and imaging differences between bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) and tricuspid aortic valve (TAV) patients with medically managed asymptomatic moderate-to-severe aortic stenosis (AS) have not been studied previously. We aim to characterize these differences and their clinical outcomes in this study. A retrospective observational study was conducted on 836 consecutive cases of isolated asymptomatic moderate-to-severe AS, with median follow-up of 3.4 years. Clinical and echocardiographic characteristics were compared between BAV and TAV patients. Subgroup analysis stratified by AS severity were performed. Survival analysis of all-cause mortality was performed using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards model. Compared to BAV patients, TAV patients were older (76 ± 11 vs 55 ± 16 years, p <0.001) and had more co-morbidities including hypertension (78% vs 56%; p <0.001), diabetes (41% vs 24%; p <0.001), and chronic kidney disease (20% vs 3%; p = 0.001). TAV patients had less severe aortic valve disease than BAV patients, with a higher aortic valve area index (0.71 ± 0.20 cm2/m2 vs 0.61 ± 0.18 cm2/m2, p <0.001) and less aortic dilation (sinotubular junction: 23.7 ± 4.0 mm vs 26.9 ± 4.8 mm, p <0.001; mid-ascending aorta: 31.4 ± 4.7 mm vs 36.3 ± 6.3 mm, p <0.001). TAV patients were more likely to have eccentric left ventricular hypertrophy and less likely to have a normal geometry (p = 0.003). Competing risk analysis identified increased age (hazard ratio 1.03, 95% confidence interval 1.02 to 1.05, p <0.001) and LVEF (hazard ratio 0.98, 95% confidence interval 0.97 to 0.99, p <0.001) as independent risk factors of all-cause mortality. Valve morphology was not a significant independent risk factor for aortic valve replacement or mortality. In conclusion, asymptomatic TAV patients had more cardiovascular risk factors, less severe aortic valve disease, less sinotubular and mid-ascending aortic dilation, more severe LV remodeling.
Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.