Description
The aortic valve has three cusps each of which is heavily calcified, producing a marked stenosis.
History
This man who was an informal patient at Porirua Hospital for many years. He was
intellectually impaired. He stumbled and fell while out walking and died shortly afterwards. The
heart weighed 400 grams; the coronary arteries showed only an occasional plaque of atheroma.
Microscopy of the heart showed areas of ischaemic scarring. Death was thought due to relative
coronary insufficiency secondary to aortic stenosis.