Finding Paragraph #1

A patient’s age, the severity and the steps you take to prevent this disease can implement answers as to why the treatment time is so prolonged for Aortic Stenosis. Sufferers can be one day old or seventy-five years old; age does not contradict this disease. Usually, a person of age twenty or younger is a congenital defect. Whereas people that of are middle age or older is either a result of rheumatic heart disease or degeneration of their aortic valve. (Encyclopedia Brittanica) Since some patients are younger than others, physicians may think that waiting for the disease to mature or worsen would be a better option than replacing a seemingly fine valve. This point ties into the severity of Aortic Stenosis. If you have mild to moderate Aortic Stenosis, there is no need for treatment immediately. However, if you are living with severe to critical Aortic Stenosis, immediate treatment is recommended since the area of the aortic valve, the velocity, and the pressure put on the heart is much greater and puts you more at risk at these stages of this disease. (Dr. Giovanni Ciuffo) Depending on your heart’s severity, your treatment time is varied. Aortic Stenosis is a very personalized and unexpected disease. There is also a picture I took from an institute's website directly relating to why treatment time is so personalized. The picture is a comparison between a regular heart and a heart invaded by Aortic Stenosis.The heart with Aortic Stenosis shows that the aortic valve is obstructed; however, another patient's heart can be more or less obstructed than the patient's heart being showed. (The Howard Gilman Institute for Heart Valve Disease) While at some times Aortic Stenosis is not much to stress about, other times it is “Life or Death”.

1."aortic stenosis." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 20 Mar. 2011.

2. Ciuffo, Dr. Giovanni. "Aortic Stenosis - Progression From Mild, To Moderate, To Severe Disease."Heart Valve Surgery Book For Patients & Caregivers. Web. 27 Mar. 2011.

3. "Valve Diseases." Gilmanheartvalve.us. The Howard Gilman Institute for Heart Valve Disease. Web. 17 Mar. 2011.

Quote, Summary, Source Analysis, and Citation #5

"Treat strep infections promptly to prevent rheumatic fever, which can cause aortic stenosis. This condition itself often cannot be prevented, but some of the complications can be."


                          - New York Times Health


One thing I have noticed is that I never researched anything about preventing Aortic Stenosis. I think my blog should include an aspect that includes preventions that could help me understand some precautions my father possible never took. To my surprise, there is almost no way to prevent this disease; it is almost inevitable to not contract it. This quote from the New York Times says that the only precaution to take is to treat strep throat correctly (If strep throat is not treated properly permanent scarring will occur, narrowing the passageway). Although it does say some of the complications, like arrhythmias (An abnormal rate of contractions of the heart), endocarditis (inflammation of the heart valves), and  left-sided heart failure can be prevented. 


The New York Times is always a reliable website to get great information from. I was pondering different ways to accumulate website ideas: I was running out of them quickly. Sure enough, I thought I would look at the New York Times. I found some information on Aortic Stenosis they had on their health section, and they had some commentary on the very little amount of preventions to it. In the article, they used much research to support it. I do not see any signs of being biased. I suggest The New York Times' website for any health related research!


*By the way, this article answers my question, "How can this disease be prevented?"


1. "Aortic Stenosis - Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment of Aortic Stenosis - NY Times Health Information." Health News - The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 May 2009. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. .

Quote, Summary, Source Analysis, and Citation #4

"There is a 3–5% hospital mortality associated with aortic valve replacement. There is an average survival rate of five years in 85% of patients suffering from aortic stenosis that undergo aortic valve replacement. Structural valve deterioration can occur and is higher in mechanical valves during the first five years; however, biological tissue and mechanical valves have the same failure incidence at 10 years, with a 60% probability of death at 11 years as a result of a valve-related complications. Patients with a mechanical valve are more likely to experience bleeding complications. Reoperation is more likely for patients treated with a biological tissue valve, but not significantly different when compared to their mechanical valve counterparts. This combines to an average rate of significant complications of 2–3% per year, with death rate of approximately 1% per year associated directly with the prosthesis."


             - Surgery.com

This quote from surgery.com explains the different outcomes associated with Aortic Stenosis. From what I have read, there is a varying amount of outcomes you can be left with. I feel that after learning about these different results, there is not a lot of relief even after the surgery. Although only three to five percent of patients passed away after the replacement, there is a sixty percent probability of patients dying after only eleven years. Knowing this shocked me. It makes me wonder if patients with this devastating disease actually know what their options are before they proceed with their operation. This quote helped answer my question "How many people have deceased of Aortic Stenosis because they were left untreated?" I felt that this question needed support from the standpoint of how many people died because they weren't treated, as well as because they were treated. This also supports my question "Does treatment lower the death rate of those who had suffered from Aortic Stenosis?"

Surgery.com is a website that I came across while researching for statistics on Aortic Stenosis. This is basically an informal site on different types of surgeries like plastic, weight loss, and neurosurgery. They use an immense amount of logos as well as research in order to persuade the readers and make them more interested in the topic. This article is not biased in the least. They provide a lot of information, pictures, and videos which are very helpful.

1. Spiegel, Kevin M. "Morbidity/Mortality." Surgery.com. 24 Nov. 2009. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. .

Graph/Chart/Map and Citation

This is a chart classifying the severity of Aortic Stenosis as well as the characteristics that are affecting the heart at that stage of severity. The chart is very straight forward and easy to read, which I like. I felt this chart belonged on my blog because it answered one of my questions. I suggest that it answers my main question, "Why is the diagnosis and treatment so prolonged for patients with Aortic Stenosis if the treatment determines life or death?" I now understand that each patient's stage in this disease is different, and depending on the severity of your heart, you have to do what is in best interest of yourself. This disease is very unexpected and you have to know your health stance at all times.



1. Ciuffo, Dr. Giovanni. "Aortic Stenosis - Progression From Mild, To Moderate, To Severe Disease."Heart Valve Surgery Book For Patients & Caregivers. Web. 27 Mar. 2011. .

Quote, Summary, Source Analysis, and Citation #3

"They conducted an experiment for almost 358 participants gaining an average age of 83. Half of these participants underwent the catheter-delivered valves process. The remaining half did not received any replacement valves instead they used other means like having their valves been widened through using a tiny balloon.
After a year passed, they have accounted 30.7% of patients who received a replacement –valve died, significantly lowered to the death rate of the patients who did not receive the same treatment recorded to reach 50.7%. This study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine."

                      - SSSST.Net

I came across this website while researching for pictures. In the article, they were discussing Aortic Stenosis and they have found a new treatment for the disease. They experimented with three hundred and fifty-eight sufferers with their new treatment. Half of the people was treated with the new treatment, and the other half just had their valves widened. A year passed and the death rate of the patients who did not receive treatment lowered significantly. This tells me that treatment does change the outcome of someone's life with Aortic Stenosis.

SSSST.net is a news website from San Diego, California. They post news from around the world. They used a lot of logos and research in this post. Their post is unbiased and I can tell their intention is to convey reliable and important information. This post was also mentioned in the New England Journal of Medicine. I found this article very interesting and helpful towards my blog.

1. "Experts Develop New Aortic Stenosis Treatment | SSSST.Com World News." SSSST.Net World News | Source of Latest and Breaking News around the World. SSSST.Net World News, 23 Sept. 2010. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. .

Quick Change

Hey everyone, I have changed a few of my questions. One of my new questions are "Does treatment lower the death rate of those who suffered from Aortic Stenosis?" Keep a look out for an answer for this question. Another new question is "How can this disease be prevented?" 

Photo, Caption, and Citation #3

This picture is a picture of a normal heart and a heart with severe Aortic Stenosis. I felt this picture belonged on my blog because this is what could happen if you leave this disease untreated. The heart on the right is almost one-hundred percent taken over by extra tissue and a severely narrowed passageway. I would imagine this patient would have heart failure very soon left without treatment.

"Experts Develop New Aortic Stenosis Treatment | SSSST.Com World News." SSSST.Com World News | Source of Latest and Breaking News around the World. SSSST.Com World News, 23 Sept. 2010. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. .