The incidence of congenital bicuspid or bileaflet and quadricuspid or quadrileaflet arterial valves in 3,861 donor hearts in the European Homograft Bank.

Abstract

The most frequently identified congenital malformation of the arterial valves was aortic bicuspidity, followed by pulmonary quadricuspidity and bicuspidity. If asymptomatic, these were detected during routine echocardiography, or at autopsy. These malformations might be genetically determined, as they are detected more often among different members of the same families, and in those persons of the same gender or blood group. These valves have a predisposition to accelerated calcification, stenosis, endocarditis and dissection of the ascending aorta. Neither quadricuspid/quadrileaflet nor unicuspid/monoleaflet aortic valves were detected in this study.