Limitations of the study include the single academic health system experience, lack of MRI in a minority of patients, the homogeneous cohort, and the use of a bioprosthetic as opposed to a mechanical valve in the vast majority of patients, Dr. Messé said.
He noted that the longer-term cognitive and functional consequences of clinical stroke and silent infarct remain to be determined and that the team is planning on evaluating this data as it accumulates over the next year.
"Finally, I’d like to suggest that aortic valve replacement provides an excellent opportunity to test prophylactic neuroprotection medication," he concluded. "There’s a clinical need for this. The stroke burden in these patients is high."
The National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute funded the research. Dr. Messé and his coauthors report research funding from the National Institutes of Health.