Bicuspid Aortic Valve Prevalence in Adults to whom Echocardiography was Performed: Result of Single Center Experience

Purpose: Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most common congenital cardiac anomaly in adults. Although there is some publication about the frequency of BAV, there is limited data about BAV in adult patients in our country. The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence and echocardiographic characteristics of BAV patients who underwent echocardiography. Materials and Methods: To determine patients with BAV, three and half year echocardiographic data in our adult cardiology clinic was retrospectively examined in this retrospective study. Demographic features and laboratory findings were also obtained from hospital record. Student t-test, chisquare test and multivariate linear regression analyses were used for the statistical analysis. Results: Among 52742 patients, BAV prevalence was found to be 4.4 (n=235) in 1000 patients. The median age of BAV patients was 46.4±17.6 years and 159 (67.7%) patients were male. Ascending aorta dilatation was found in 117 (51%) patients with BAV. BAV patients with aortic dilatation were significantly older (53.9±14.9 vs. 39.3±17.1, p=<0.001, respectively). Male gender were frequently seen in patients with aortic dilatation as compared without (%73.5 vs. %60.7; p= 0.039, respectively). Sixty-five (27.7%) of the BAV patients had aortic stenosis and echocardiographic graded as mild in 36 (15.3%), moderate in 20 (8.5%) and severe in 9 (3.5%) patients. Aortic regurgitation was observed in 185 (78.7%) out of the BAV patients and echocardiographic graded as mild in 144 (61.3%), moderate in 27 (11.5%) and severe in 14 (6.0%) patients. Conclusion: The prevalence of BAV diagnosed by echocardiography at the adult cardiology clinic was 0.44%. Additionally, it was found that male gender and age were the most significant parameters associated with aortic dilatation. ( Sakarya Med J 2016, 6(3):146-151 )