Aortic Stenosis Progression: Lessons from Multimodality Imaging.

Abstract

Calcific aortic stenosis primarily affects the aging population and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The progression of aortic stenosis from sclerotic aortic valve to severe aortic stenosis is an active metabolic process that involves multiple signaling pathways. Multimodality imaging can assess aortic valve calcification and metabolic activity and quantify severity of disease. This review describes the clinical utility of echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, cardiac computed tomography, and nuclear imaging in the assessment of aortic stenosis. These imaging checkpoints may also serve as targets of clinical research trials aimed at halting the progression of aortic stenosis.