Symptomatic
Aortic Stenosis
can‘t wait
An urgent evaluation is everything.
25,000
SSAS Patients
Approximately 25,000 Canadians are diagnosed annually with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (SSAS).1-9
Medical
management
isn’t enough
After developing symptomatic severe aortic stenosis, the average patient survival is two years without treatment. 12
Symptomatic
aortic stenosis
can be fatal
Aortic stenosis is among the most common of all valvular heart diseases and continues to increase as our population ages.13 Symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (SSAS) can be fatal if left untreated.
Early diagnosis and treatment
can mean better outcomes
Due to the following factors, SSAS
isn’t always easy to diagnose:
- Heart murmurs go undetected.14
- Referrals are delayed or too late.14
- Echocardiogram findings are misclassified due to complex cardiac anatomy.14
- Patients don't recognize or report their symptoms.15
- Patients refuse treatment.16
Aortic valve
replacement
greatly improves
the rate of survival
" Mortality difference for people with symptoms of aortic stenosis treated with aortic valve replacement versus those not undergoing this procedure is one of the most striking in medicine.18 "
Urgency is everything
for symptomatic
aortic stenosis patients
Mind
the
murmur
You can help save more lives by
recognizing the symptoms of SSAS early on.
ACC/AHA
guidelines
For SSAS patients who are 65 to 80 years of age and have no anatomic contraindication to transfemoral TAVI, either SAVR or transfemoral TAVI is recommended after shared decision-making about the balance between expected patient longevity and valve durability.19
ESC/EACTS
guidelines
ESC/EACTS Valvular Heart Disease Guidelines: Class 1B recommendation: Patient with symptomatic severe high-gradient aortic stenosis should be treated. The treatment choice should be made by the Heart Team according to the individual patient characteristics.11
" The role of the Heart Team is essential to take all of these data into account and adopt a final decision on the best treatment strategy.11 "
— ESC/EACTS Valvular Heart Disease Guidelines
Understanding symptomatic aortic stenosis from a patient point of view
The patient perspective was incorporated in a recent report from Heart Valve Voice Canada, Heart Valve Disease: Working together to create a better patient journey provides a comprehensive view of the entire heart valve disease patient journey from first detection to diagnosis, follow-up, and treatment. The report describes what an optimal care pathway should be for people living with heart valve disease and provides a series of recommendation to improve the journey for these people.
It's easier to help patients when you know what they're thinking. The insights gathered from a new national survey conducted by Heart-Valve-Surgery.com, with support from Medtronic, can help you better understand the heart valve patient experience.
Share this resource with your patients: Heart-Valve-Surgery.com can help them learn more about their condition and find a supportive community of other patients diagnosed with SSAS.
1 STS Adult Cardiac Database. 2010 Harvest, Isolated AVR.
2 Bach DS, Cimino N, Deeb GM. Unoperated patients with severe aortic stenosis. J Am Coll Cardiol. November 13, 2007;50(20):2018-2019.
3 Pellikka PA, Sarano ME, Nishimura RA, et al. Outcome of 622 adults with asymptomatic, hemodynamically significant aortic stenosis during prolonged follow-up. Circulation. June 21, 2005;111(24):3290-3295.
4 Charlson E, Legedza AT, Hamel MB. Decision-making and outcomes in severe symptomatic aortic stenosis. J Heart Valve Dis. May 2006;15(3):312-321.
5 Nkomo VT, Gardin JM, Skelton TN, Gottdiener JS, Scott CG, Enriquez-Sarano M. Burden of valvular heart diseases: a population-based study. Lancet. September 16, 2006;368(9540):1005-1011.
6 Lindroos M, Kupari M, Heikkilä J, Tilvis R. Prevalence of aortic valve abnormalities in the elderly: an echocardiographic study of a random population sample. J Am Coll Cardiol. April 1993;21(5):1220-1225.
7 Mack MJ, Brennan JM, Brindis R, et al. Outcomes following transcatheter aortic valve replacement in the United States. JAMA. November 20, 2013;310(19):2069-2077.
8 Medtronic data on file #1.
9 lung B, Baron G, Butchart EG, et al. A prospective survey of patients with valvular heart disease in Europe: The Euro Heart Survey on Valvular Heart Disease. Eur Heart J. July 2003;24(13):1231-1243.
10 Durko AP, Osnabrugge RL, Van Mieghem NM, Milojevic M, Mylotte D, Nkomo VT, Pieter Kappetein A. Annual number of candidates for transcatheter aortic valve implantation per country: current estimates and future projections. Eur Heart J. 2018 Jul 21;39(28):2635-2642. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehy107. PMID: 29546396.
11 Alec Vahanian, Friedhelm Beyersdorf, Fabien Praz, Milan Milojevic, Stephan Baldus, Johann Bauersachs, Davide Capodanno, Lenard Conradi, Michele De Bonis, Ruggero De Paulis, Victoria Delgado, Nick Freemantle, Martine Gilard, Kristina H Haugaa, Anders Jeppsson, Peter Jüni, Luc Pierard, Bernard D Prendergast, J Rafael Sádaba, Christophe Tribouilloy, Wojtek Wojakowski, ESC/EACTS Scientific Document Group, 2021 ESC/EACTS Guidelines for the management of valvular heart disease: Developed by the Task Force for the management of valvular heart disease of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS), European Heart Journal, Volume 43, Issue 7, 14 February 2022, Pages 561–632
12 Modified from Lester SJ, Heilbron B, Gin K, Dodek A, Jue J. The natural history and rate of progression of aortic stenosis. Chest. April 1998;113(4):1109-1114.
13 Carabello BA, Paulus WJ. Aortic stenosis. Lancet. March 14, 2009;373(9667):956-966.
14 McCarthy CP, Phelan D, Griffin B. When does asymptomatic aortic stenosis warrant surgery? Assessment techniques. Cleve Clin J Med. April 2016;83(4):271-280.
15 Brennan JM. Under-treatment of Aortic Stenosis in the United States. Presented at TVT 2019; Chicago, IL.
16 Medtronic data on file #2.
17 Schwarz F, Baumann P, Manthey J, et al. The effect of aortic valve replacement on survival. Circulation. November 1982;66(5):1105-1110.
18 Active Living Awareness Initiative Survey. Survey included 3400 respondents. Available at: Heart-Valve-Surgery.com.
19 Otto CM, Nishimura RA, Bonow RO, Carabello BA, Erwin JP 3rd, Gentile F, Jneid H, Krieger EV, Mack M, McLeod C, O’Gara PT, Rigolin VH, Sundt TM 3rd, Thompson A, Toly C. 2020 ACC/AHA guideline for the management of patients with valvular heart disease: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Circulation. 2021