Aortic Valve Disease

Abstract

clinical symptoms is the major indicator for surgical intervention,4 the natural history of chronic aortic regurgitation is more variable and the onset of myocardial deterioration commonly occurs before the onset of symptoms. Identification of early myocardial decompensation in chronic aortic regurgitation remains one of the major unsolved dilemmas in modern cardiology.5'6 In this specialty conference, we will attempt to correlate current knowledge of the natural history and pathophysiology of these disorders with rational approaches to their medical and surgical management, including use of important information gained from the history, physical examination, and noninvasive and invasive diagnostic