While aortic valve disease is a progressive cardiac disorder that can take years or decades to become severe, patients may require an emergency procedure.<\/p>\n
For example, aortic stenosis<\/a> is commonly referred to as a “silent killer”. Why? According to research by Dr. Eugene Braunwald<\/a>, once a patient is diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis and that patient experiences symptoms, the survival rate is just 50% after 24 months. That said, a missed aortic stenosis diagnosis could warrant emergency surgery.<\/p>\n In addition, patients with aortic valve disease often struggle with an aortic aneurysm<\/a>. The aorta is the largest artery in the body. So, any rupture or dissection of the aorta could be life-threatening. This is another reason that patients may need emergency surgery.<\/p>\n To learn more about emergency operations related to aortic valve disease, we interviewed Dr. Christopher Mehta<\/a>. As you may know, Dr. Mehta is an aortic valve and aneurysm specialist at Northwestern Medicine<\/a> in Chicago, Illinois.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n