Treatment strategies for mixed aortic valve disease in nonelderly patients

Introduction: Mixed aortic valve disease (MAVD) is defined by simultaneous occurrence of aortic stenosis (AS) and aortic regurgitation (AR). In our review, we focus on treatment options for nonelderly MAVD patients (age<55 years), who suffer from congenital aortic valve disease (unicuspid/bicuspid aortic valves).Areas covered: A systematic literature search was performed on PubMed and Embase databases using the following terms: mixed aortic valve disease, aortic stenosis/regurgitation, bicuspid/unicuspid aortic valve, mechanical/bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement, TAVR, Ross procedure. After preselection of title and abstracts, two authors (M.S. and E.G.) assessed the methodological quality of the full-text articles prior to final inclusion in the manuscript.Expert opinion: Currently, no ideal valvular substitutes are available in the treatment of nonelderly MAVD patients. Mechanical valves are associated with a reduced life expectancy due to a combination of prothesis-associated factors, mainly thrombotic and bleeding complications. Bioprostheses degenerate in the second decade and re-operations are inevitable, which also limit life expectancy. Long-term outcomes and durability of transcatheter aortic valve replacement are currently unknown. Finally, only Ross procedure is a therapeutic option with excellent long-term outcomes comparable to the healthy population. However, the Ross procedure has some important drawbacks and should therefore be only performed in expert centers and in well-selected patients.