Bortolotti U, Scioti G, Levantino M, Milano A, Nardi C, Tartarini G
Department of Cardiology, Angiology and Pneumology, University of Pisa Medical School, Italy.
J Heart Valve Dis. 1998 Sep;7(5):515-7.
Quadricuspid aortic valve is an uncommon cause of aortic regurgitation. We report two patients who underwent aortic valve replacement because of severe aortic incompetence; the presence of a quadricuspid aortic valve was an accidental surgical finding. In one patient the aortic valve comprised two equal-sized larger cusps and two equal-sized smaller cusps, while in the other it comprised three cusps of similar size and a small accessory cusp between the right and non-coronary cusps. This report confirms the rarity of the disease and the fact that patients with quadricuspid aortic valves characterized by cusps of different sizes are more prone to develop progressive aortic incompetence because of unequal distribution of stresses on the valve. Therefore, such patients should undergo periodic, life-time echocardiographic assessment once this malformation is detected.
四叶式主动脉瓣是主动脉瓣关闭不全的罕见病因。我们报告了两名因严重主动脉瓣反流而接受主动脉瓣置换术的患者；术中意外发现他们患有四叶式主动脉瓣。其中一名患者的主动脉瓣由两个大小相等的较大瓣叶和两个大小相等的较小瓣叶组成，而另一名患者的主动脉瓣由三个大小相似的瓣叶以及位于右冠瓣和无冠瓣之间的一个小副瓣叶组成。本报告证实了该疾病的罕见性，以及具有不同大小瓣叶的四叶式主动脉瓣患者因瓣膜上应力分布不均而更易发生进行性主动脉瓣反流这一事实。因此，一旦发现这种畸形，此类患者应接受终身定期超声心动图评估。
