Natural history of aortic and mitral valve disease.

An appreciation of the natural history of acquired valvular heart disease is a prerequisite to an understanding of how surgical intervention has altered the natural outlook. The prognosis for a patient with valvular heart disease treated medically is dependent on the stage of the disease at which he is first seen. Therefore, assessment for surgery requires evaluation of the pathophysiologic consequences that have resulted from the hemodynamic alterations. Survival statistics for patients seen at the University of California Medical Center at San Francisco are presented and compared with the data of others. Stenotic lesions appear to have a poorer prognosis than chronic regurgitant lesions and generally warrant surgical intervention at an earlier functional stage of the disease. However, valvular insufficiency produced acutely is poorly tolerated and many constitute a surgical emergency.