Etiology of bicuspid aortic valve disease: Focus on hemodynamics

Figure 1 Hemodynamic theory of bicuspid aortic valve disease. The hemodynamic theory of bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) disease can be illustrated as an irreversible feedback loop in which the BAV anatomy would subject the valve leaflets and the ascending aortic wall to local stress overloads. Those stress abnormalities could be sensed by specific endothelial receptors and then transduced into different biological responses that would lead ultimately to the formation of calcific lesions on the leaflets or to the progressive degeneration of the aortic media.