Symptoms:

People with aortic stenosis may have no symptoms at all until late in the course of the disease. The diagnosis may have been made when the healthcare provider heard a heart murmur and then performed additional tests.

Symptoms of aortic stenosis include:

• Breathlessness with activity
• Chest pain, angina-type
  • Crushing, squeezing, pressure, tightness
  • Pain increases with exercise, relieved with rest
  • Under the chest bone, may move to other areas
• Fainting, weakness, or dizziness with activity
• Sensation of feeling the heart beat (palpitations)

In infants and children, symptoms include:

• Becoming tired or fatigued with exertion more easily than others (in mild cases)
• Serious breathing problems that develop within days or weeks of birth (in severe cases)

Children with mild or moderate aortic stenosis may get worse as they get older. They also run the risk of developing a heart infection (bacterial endocarditis).

Signs and tests:

The health care provider will be able to feel a vibration or movement when placing a hand over the person's heart. A heart murmur, click, or other abnormal sound is almost always heard through a stethoscope. There may be a faint pulse or changes in the quality of the pulse in the neck (this is called pulsus parvus et tardus).

Infants and children with aortic stenosis may be extremely tired, sweaty, and have pale skin and fast breathing. They may also be smaller than other children their age.

Blood pressure may be low.

The following tests may be performed:

• Chest x-ray
• Doppler echocardiography
• ECG
• Exercise stress testing
• Left cardiac catheterization
• MRI of the heart
• Transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE)