Catheter-based intravascular ultrasound discriminates bicuspid from tricuspid valves in adults with calcific aortic stenosis.

A catheter-based intravascular ultrasound transducer was used to study aortic valve morphology in adults with calcific aortic stenosis. Examination of 14 postmortem specimens disclosed that intravascular ultrasound consistently identified the number of cusps or the presence of a calcified median raphe in the conjoined cusp, or both, and thereby distinguished a calcified bicuspid from a calcified tricuspid aortic valve. These postmortem findings were then employed to identify valvular morphology in 15 patients undergoing diagnostic cardiac catheterization or balloon aortic valvuloplasty, or both. Reproduction of criteria established in vitro allowed discrimination of congenital valvular morphology in all 15 patients, including 7 in whom assessment by intravascular ultrasound was confirmed by subsequent pathologic examination. Identification of aortic valvular morphology by intravascular ultrasound has potential therapeutic implications for patients considered to be candidates for operative or nonoperative aortic valvuloplasty.