The Subvalvar Aortic Jet

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Abstract
Twenty-three cases of subaortic stenosis have been reviewed with particular attention to angiocardiographic findings. Although previously well described abnormalities are discussed briefly, emphasis has been placed on the less well known finding, the subvalvar aortic jet. The presence of a jet in the ascending aorta during systole without doming of an anatomically normal aortic valve combined with poststenotic dilatation of the ascending aorta and incomplete opening of the aortic valve is virtually diagnostic of a subvalvar fibrous membrane. Although clinical data, including electrocardiographic and cardiac catheterization findings, may suggest subaortic stenosis, accurate diagnosis is commonly difficult. Selective angiocardiography may be of supreme importance in the differentiation between aortic valve stenosis, membranous subaortic stenosis, and muscular subaortic stenosis. The importance of this differentiation is demonstrated by the different surgical approaches which may be taken in the varying lesions and by the differences in operative and postoperative prognoses.