Congenital Unicuspid Aortic Valve Diagnosed by Intraoperative Findings

A unicuspid aortic valve is an extremely rare congenital aortic valvular abnormality. We herein present 2 cases of unicuspid aortic valve diagnosed based on intraoperative findings. In case 1, a 75-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of severe aortic regurgitation. We performed aortic valve replacement using a bioprosthetic valve, and a unicuspid aortic valve was definitively diagnosed according to the intraoperative findings. In case 2, a 54-year-old man developed dyspnea due to severe aortic stenosis. Aortic valve replacement using mechanical valve was performed, and we were able to diagnose unicuspid aortic valve intraoperatively. Achieving a preoperative definitive diagnosis of congenital unicuspid aortic valve by transthoracic echocardiography is reportedly difficult;however, transesophageal echocardiography may be effective for preoperative definitive diagnosis.