The diagnostic value of transthoracic echocardiography in congenital bicuspid aortic valve with aortic coarctation

Abstract

Objective To study the value of transthoracic echocardiography(TTE) in diagnosing aortic coarctation on patients with congenital bicuspid aortic valve(BAV). Methods One hundred and thirty-eight patients with BAV who received operation in Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University between July 2011 and July 2016 were analyzed retrospectively.Forty patients underwent TTE as well as CTA before the operation.The results of TTE, computed tomography angiography (CTA) and operation were compared. Results In 138 patients with BAV, three patients were diagnosed as BAV with aortic coarctation.All of them were confirmed by CTA before the surgery.While, only one of the three patients was discovered by TTE before the surgical intervention.Patients with the diagnosis of CTA and TEE were 3/3 and 1/3 respectively.The difference between the two methods had no statistical significance (P=0.200). Three cases of BAV with coarctation were all transverse crack type. Conclusions The difference between two methods(TTE and CTA) on diagnosis of aortic coarctation with BAV do not have statistical significance. CTA is the golden standard of diagnosis of aortic coarctation.Therefore, BAV patients with the symptom of aortic coarctation may receive additional examination like CTA, especially for the transverse crack type. Key words: Echocardiography; Bicuspid aortic valve; Transverse crack type; Aortic coarctation