Aortic and mitral valve disease: surgical implications of oxidative stress

Aortic and mitral valve diseases are progressively increasing in the Western world, affecting an increasing number of patients. Data from the STS database, the voluntary database that collect data from the vast majority of the USA cardiac surgical centers have shown a steed increase in the surgical procedures done for these two pathologies.From 2001 and 2010, there has been a significant increase for isolated aortic valve replacement (AVR) (from 9656 to 25219 cases) for mitral valve repair (MVRep) (from 2.755 to 7.207 cases), and this is also true for mitral valve replacement (MVR), AVR + CABG, and MVRep + CABG. This epidemic of valve disease is due in part to ageing population of Western countries but also to some unknown factors. In this thesis we will analyze the molecular mechanisms of aortic valve stenosis and mitral valve prolapsed, the possible surgical implications and linking and the role of oxidative stress as a potential main factor in the occurrence and progression of these diseases.