Aortic Stenosis: Pathology and Clinical Features

Aortic stenosis is the most common mitral valve disease in the US.

Bicuspid valve is a common congenital cause of aortic stenosis in older patients.

Symptoms of aortic stenosis include angina, syncope, and CHF.

Most patients with symptoms of aortic stenosis survive beyond 3 years without valve replacement.

An EKG is not useful in diagnosing aortic stenosis.

Mitral stenosis is the most common cause of pulmonary hypertension.

Mitral stenosis symptoms are often related to elevated right atrial pressure.

Mitral stenosis may have a holosystolic murmur at the apex.

Mitral regurgitation is always associated with mitral stenosis.

Mitral regurgitation can lead to cardiomegaly on physical examination or chest X-ray.

Mitral valve prolapse is usually associated with Marfan's Syndrome.

Functional assessment in cardiac auscultation always starts with an EKG.

A mid- to late-systolic click may be heard in patients with severe mitral stenosis.

The gold standard assessment for evaluating mitral stenosis is a chest X-ray.

Pulmonary edema is more likely in cases of acute rupture in mitral stenosis than in chronic cases.