Table 1: The aetiology of AR
|
Aetiology of acute and chronic aortic regurgitation |
|
Acute AR |
Chronic AR
|
-
Aortic dissection
-
Infective endocarditis
-
Prosthetic valve dysfunction
-
Rupture of an aortic valve leaflet (e.g. trauma)
|
Usually a bicuspid valve or supravalvular stenosis (suspect if isolated lesion in a chronic presentation) |
-
Calcific degeneration
-
Aortic root dilatation
-
Rheumatic fever/previous infective endocarditis
-
Rare causes include: connective tissue diseases (Marfan’s syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos); autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosis, ankylosing spondylitis); syphilis; appetite suppressant drug Fenfluramine [6]
|
Aortic regurgitation can be acute or chronic. The prevalence of AR in the Framingham study was 4.9%. The aetiology of AR is shown in Table 1.
