11 Valvular Heart Disease and Rheumatic Fever
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Chapter 11: Valvular Heart Disease and Rheumatic Fever 375 11 Valvular Heart Disease and Rheumatic Fever CONTENTS AORTIC STENOSIS AORTIC REGURGITATION MITRAL STENOSIS MITRAL REGURGITATION MITRAL VALVE PROLAPSE RHEUMATIC FEVER BIBLIOGRAPHY AORTIC STENOSIS Aortic stenosis is the most common valvular lesion in the United States. This lesion is common because approximately 2% of individuals are born with a bicuspid valve which is prone to stenosis, and the aging population is increasing, and calcific aortic stenosis progresses with advancing years. Rheumatic aortic stenosis is now uncommon, except in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. The patient’s age at the time of diagnosis usually gives a reasonable assessment of the underlying disease. • Diagnosis before age 30 is typical of congenital aortic stenosis. • In patients over age 70, calcific aortic sclerosis owing to degenerative calcification is common, and significant stenosis develops in up to 5% of these individuals. Aortic sclerosis is common in the elderly, and although the lesion is significant, it is hemody- namically not important. Stenosis develops particularly when there is associated hyper- cholesterolemia. Importantly, the progression of stenosis can be significantly retarded by statin therapy. • A bicuspid valve occurs in approximately 2% of the population, with a male to female ratio of 4:1, and is predisposed to degenerative calcification and stenosis. Between ages 30 and 70, calcification of a bicuspid valve is the most common cause of aortic stenosis, and much less frequently, cases of rheumatic valvular disease are encountered. The causes of aortic stenosis can be seen in Table 11.1. From: Contemporary Cardiology: Heart Disease Diagnosis and Therapy: A Practical Approach, Second Edition Edited by: M. Gabriel Khan © Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ 375 376 Heart Disease Diagnosis and Therapy: A Practical Approach Table 11.1 Causes of Aortic Valvular Stenosis Biscuspid calcific 60%a Degenerative calcific 15% Rheumatic 20%a Other 5% aReverse in Asia, Africa, Middle East, and Latin America. Physical Signs of Significant Aortic Stenosis Some physical signs of significant aortic stenosis include the following: • A systolic crescendo–decrescendo murmur best heard at the left sternal border, the sec- ond right interspace, or occasionally at the apex, with radiation to the neck. • The timing of the peak intensity of the murmur is a more reliable sign of severity of aortic stenosis than the intensity of the murmur. Severe stenosis is indicated by a murmur that peaks late in systole. • The longer the murmur the greater the gradient. • The intensity of the murmur, in the absence of significant aortic regurgitation, is usually grade 3 or greater, except if cardiac output (CO) is low, as with heart failure (HF); then, even a grade 2 murmur may be in keeping with severe stenosis. Aortic regurgitation (AR) increases flow across the aortic valve and may produce a loud systolic murmur without stenosis. • An absent or very soft aortic component of the second sound (A2). With increased calcification, mobility of the valve leaflets is reduced; thus, the closing sound of the aortic valve becomes soft or even lost; A2 disappears when the valve does not open or closes well. The soft pulmonary second heart sound produces a soft single second heart sound. Paradoxic splitting of the second heart sound may occur, but is uncommon. • An S4 gallop is usually present and is highly significant in patients under age 50. • A thrill is commonly present over the base of the heart or the carotid arteries; this indicates a murmur of grade 4 or louder and may relate to the severity of aortic stenosis if AR is absent. • A thrusting, forceful apex beat of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH); the apex beat is usually not displaced, except in patients with concomitant AR or with terminal left ventricular (LV) dilatation. • The carotid or brachial pulse in patients under age 65 shows a typical delayed upstroke. In the elderly, loss of elasticity in arteries often masks this important sign. The decreased elasticity increases the rate of rise of the carotid upstroke, and this may mislead the clinician into thinking that the stenosis is mild when it is severe. The average survival of patients are given in Table 11.2. • Approximately 50% of patients present with dyspnea and more than half are expected to die within 2 years. • Approximately 33% of patients with aortic stenosis present with angina and half are expected to die within 5 years. • Approximately 15% of patients present with syncope and half of these die within 3 years. Chapter 11: Valvular Heart Disease and Rheumatic Fever 377 Table 11.2. Average Survival in Patients With Moderate or Severe Aortic Stenosis Clinical parameters Survival (years) Left ventricular failure 1–2 Severe shortness of breath 50% die within 2 Mild shortness of breath 3–5 Syncope 50% die within 3 Angina 50% die within 5 Investigations ELECTROCARDIOGRAM The electrocardiogram (ECG) in patients with moderate to severe stenosis often shows features of LVH: • S-wave in V1, plus R in V5 or V6 greater than 35 mmHg. • S wave-V3, plus R in aVL greater than 20 mmHg. • Left atrial enlargement. • ST-T change typical of LV strain: the ascending limb of the T-wave is steeper than the descending in leads V5 and V6, with a lesser change in V4. • Left bundle branch block. Although some patients with LVH caused by aortic stenosis may not manifest ECG signs of LVH, the ECG remains an important test in those who do show LVH. The presence of LVH on ECG in the absence of significant hypertension is in keeping with severe aortic stenosis. CHEST X-RAY Concentric LVH occurs; thus, the chest X-ray usually shows a normal heart size, with some rounding of the left lower cardiac border and apex, and occasionally some posterior protrusion in the lateral view may suggest LVH. The heart size may be increased if cardiac failure supervenes or with concomitant AR. A common hallmark of valvular aortic stenosis is poststenotic dilatation of the ascending aorta. ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY The severity of aortic stenosis can be determined by continuous-wave Doppler echocardiography. This technique agrees with data obtained from catheterization in up to 85% of cases. Mild aortic stenosis is indicated by a mean aortic valve pressure gradient equal to or less than 20 mmHg. Moderate stenosis is indicated by a mean pressure gradient 21–39 mmHg. A valve area greater than 1.5 cm2 indicates mild aortic stenosis. Moderate to severe aortic stenosis is indicated by the following: • Valve mean pressure gradient greater than 40 (range in several clinical studies, 40–120 mmHg). • Doppler peak systolic pressure gradient is usually greater than 50 mmHg in the presence of a normal CO but in more than 33% of patients the gradient is 40–50 mmHg. • Maximal instantaneous Doppler gradient greater than 60 mmHg (range 55–165 mmHg). • Peak systolic flow velocity greater than 4 m/s (range often observed, 4–7 m/s). 378 Heart Disease Diagnosis and Therapy: A Practical Approach Table 11.3. Hemodynamic Parameters for Severe Aortic Stenosis Aortic valve Aortic valve Peak systolic Mean gradient areaa (cm2) area index (cm2/m2) gradient (mmHg) (mmHg) Severe stenosis <0.75 <0.4 >80 >70 Probable severe 0.75–0.9 0.4–0.6 50–79 40–69 Uncertain >0.9-1.2 >0.6 <50 <40 aIn an average-sized adult. • Valve area less than about 0.75 cm2 in an average-sized adult, 0.4 cm2/m2 of body surface area, severe or critical stenosis (Table 11.3.). • 0. 8 to 1.4 cm2 indicates moderate stenosis. The aortic valve area (AVA) and expected mean gradient is as follows: • 0.5 cm2 mean gradient greater than 100 mmHg • 0.7 cm2 mean gradient greater than 50 mmHg • 0.9 cm2 mean gradient greater than 30 mmHg • 1 .0 cm2 mean gradient greater than 25 mmHg • 3 to 4 cm2 is normal and gradient less than 3 mmHg It must be emphasized that in cardiac catheterization studies, no aortic valve gradient (mean or peak) has been found to be both sensitive and specific for severe aortic stenosis. Eslami et al. points out that AVA should be measured at cardiac catheterization in all patients with suspicion of severe aortic stenosis even when the mean aortic valve gradient is less than 50 mmHg (0% of their study patients) and/or the peak gradient in less than 60 mmHg (present in up to 47% of their patients). These authors believe that the severity of aortic stenosis is best determined by measuring the AVA as follows: • severe aortic stenosis AVA is less than 1.0 cm2, AVA index less than 0.6 cm2. • Moderate stenosis AVA greater than 1.0–1.52. • In patients with congenital aortic stenosis, the peak instantaneous valve pressure gradient is used for determining the severity of stenosis. Therapy Medical therapy plays a small role in management. Because the consequences of valve surgery may be life-threatening, the timing of valve replacement requires accurate knowl- edge of the natural history of significant aortic stenosis, as well as careful attention to details in the patient’s history and the sound appraisal of information gathered from Doppler echocardiography correlated with catheterization data. Sophisticated echo-Doppler techniques are available and can, in over 80% of patients, dispense with catheterization data. However, because valve surgery is a life-saving but hazardous procedure, it is vital to gather information from all sources, including catheter- ization, to allow for sound decision making when surgery is being contemplated. In certain patients, ancillary information about the state of the coronary arteries is of cardi- nal value in reaching a therapeutic decision. In a study comparing echo-Doppler with catheterization data to determine the timing for valve surgery, agreement varied from a 92% level for AR to 90% for mitral stenosis but only 83% and 69% for aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation, respectively.