Today, doctors often wait until symptoms appear to treat their aortic stenosis patients, but because the disease can come on without warning, many patients dont receive treatment until their hearts are already seriously damaged. "I think the general principle for years has been that surgical treatment of aortic stenosis is primarily for patients with symptoms," explains Gary Francis, MD, professor of medicine and head of Clinical Cardiology at Cleveland Clinic. "There really werent any data available to guide therapy (for asymptomatic patients)."
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