What are the complications of bicuspid aortic valve disease?

What are the complications of bicuspid aortic valve disease?

Bicuspid aortic valve disease can lead to serious complications if untreated. These include:

• Heart failure. Aortic valve stenosis forces your heart to work harder to force blood through your valve. Your heart’s main pumping chamber, your left ventricle, thickens and gets bigger. It can’t pump blood as efficiently as it should. Over time, this leads to heart failure. Other risk factors like smoking or high cholesterol can speed up this process.
• Aortic aneurysm rupture and dissection. About 1 in 3 people who have a bicuspid aortic valve also have a dilated (enlarged) aorta above their valve. As your aorta gets bigger, its walls lose their strength and stretch out of shape. Eventually, this can cause an aortic aneurysm (bulging of the aorta) to form. If the aneurysm grows too big, it can rupture or dissect. These are life-threatening emergencies.