Rate of progression of severity of valvular aortic stenosis.

Twenty-six patients with valvular aortic stenosis were followed up for an average period of 9 years after the initial evaluation when the valvular disease had been considered too mild for surgical treatment. The valve area was 0.7-1.9 (mean 1.2) cm2 at the first study and 0.3-2.0 (mean 0.9) cm2 at the second. The mean annual decrease was about 0.1 cm2 in ten and less in the remaining patients. Advanced age and low physical working capacity at the first investigation were associated with rapid progression of the severity of the stenosis, but rapid progression was not predictable. At follow-up the combination of 1) calcifications of the valve on chest X-ray, 2) low physical working capacity and 3) negative/biphasic T wave in V6 after exercise was present in 100% of the severe stenoses (much less than 0.6 cm2) and in 10% of the mild (much greater than 1.0 cm2). The rate of progression of valvular aortic stenosis in adults is usually slow, but moderate stenoses may become severe within a few years.