Join the Cause - Accurate Diagnostic Testing for BAV and TAD

Recently I went with a family member to have an echocardiogram and the next day a CT Angiogram. These are among the tests currently available to look inside and "see" the heart, its valves, its arteries (the CTA), and the aorta. Since then I have had many thoughts about the "A" in the Bicuspid Aortic Foundation's  ABC's - Accurate diagnostic testing - and the life-saving difference it has made in my own family and many others.

One important thing that individuals and families with Bicuspid Aortic Valve (BAV) and other forms of  Thoracic Aortic Disease (TAD) can do is understand the tests that are available today to baseline and monitor their heart, its valves, and their aorta. At the Bicuspid Aortic Conference in 2010, the topic of imaging was presented. Following is a video clip from that Conference:




To the great physicians Abbott and Osler, who through diagnostic brilliance and keen observation via autopsy, understood and wrote a great deal about bicuspid aortic valves, aortic aneurysm, coarctation, and brain aneurysm, the diagnostic testing and surgical treatments of today were perhaps at most a dream, a glimmer on the horizon. Today, accurate interpretation of these tests are an important part of saving the lives of those with BAV and other forms of Thoracic Aortic Disease.

If you would like to support screening of young athletes for BAV, please visit

Together we seek to understand BAV and TAD, 

As together, we create a climate of hope,

Arlys Velebir

President and Chair

Bicuspid Aortic Foundation