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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Young adults with the most common type of congenital cardiac abnormality are likely to experience subsequent cardiac events. However, they do not appear to have lower survival rates compared to the general population, according to a new study.
Patients with a bicuspid aortic valve in the heart, which is a valve that only has two flaps that open and close instead of three, were followed for an average of nine years. Twenty-five percent experienced one or more primary cardiac events, such as cardiac death, aortic death or congestive heart failure.
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When compared with age and sex-matched population estimates, the overall mortality rate was not significantly higher between those in the valve group and in the population estimates, the studys authors said. Also, five-year and 10-year survival rates were similar in both groups.
Previous studies have found significant death and illnesses with patients with a bicuspid aortic valve, but authors credited their more optimistic outcome with new advances in treatment and management.
SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2008;300: 1317-1325.
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