Relationship of Aortic Stiffness to Exercise and Ventricular Volumes in Single Ventricles

ConclusionsSV patients with reconstructed aortas demonstrate increased aortic stiffness, increasing afterload on the ventricle. Native DAo stiffness distal to the reconstruction is inversely correlated with exercise performance, presumably to decrease impedance mismatch maintaining homogeneity of the aortic wall. This information suggests a possible mechanism for decreased exercise performance in SV patients with aortic reconstructions.
Source: The Annals of Thoracic Surgery - Category: Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Source Type: research