Impact of Bicuspid Aortic Valve Morphology on Aortic Valve Disease and Aortic Dilation in Pediatric Patients

Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most common congenital heart defect. BAV is associated with aortic stenosis and insufficiency, and aortic dilation in adult groups, but data in pediatric groups are limited. We sought to assess the impact of BAV morphology on aortic valve disease and aortic dilation in pediatric patients. We performed a retrospective review of all echocardiograms in patients with isolated BAV who were followed at our institution from July 2002 to July 2012. BAV morphology, aortic valve stenosis and/or insufficiency, and aortic dimensions were measured manually. Comparisons were made between right-left cusp fusion (RL) and right-noncoronary cusp fusion (RN) BAV morphologies. Generalized least square models were fit to analyze the impact of specific variables on aortic dilation. There were 1075 echocardiograms in 366 patients (72% male) with isolated BAV. Aortic valve insufficiency and stenosis were more common in RN (p < 0.001 for both). The median aortic sinus Z score was higher in the RL (0.47; IQR - 0.31 to 1.44) than in the RN group (0.02; - 0.83 to 0.82) (p < 0.001). There was no difference in median ascending aorta Z score between groups. Patients with the highest weights had larger aortas (p < 0.001), but the absolute difference between the highest and lowest weight groups was small (1.5 mm). The impact of BAV morphology on aortic valve disease and aortic dilation in pediatric patients presages that seen in adults. Patient body weight does not make significant clinical impacts on aortic diameters, suggesting that Z scores for aortic diameters should be based on ideal body weights.