Aortic regurgitation and heart valve disease in mice

Heart valve disease, in both congenital and acquired forms, is an important and growing public health problem. Epidemiologic studies in the United States have revealed an overall prevalence of 2.5%, and the incidence increases with age. Heart valve disease has a growing clinical impact and significant economic burden (1,2). In patients with aortic stenosis (AS) or aortic regurgitation (AR), morbidity and mortality is increased because of heart failure from chronic left ventricle (LV) disfunction (3,4). An analysis of the mechanism by which chronic LV volume overload leads to heart failure due to AR or AS is important and a useful mice model is timely.