Supravalvular Aortic Stenosis and Peripheral Pulmonary Stenosis Coexisting With a Straight Thoracic Spine

Abstract

Supravalvular aortic stenosis (SVAS) is recognized in cases of Williams syndrome and in sporadic cases not associated with other features of the syndrome. It is also well recognized as associated with peripheral pulmonary stenosis (PPS). A male patient was diagnosed as having PPS at the age of 1 year and 8 months, and was found at the age of 18 years to have SVAS. Cardiac catheterization showed that he had a localized type of SVAS and regression of the PPS. Chest X-ray showed that he did not have the normal thoracic curvature. His 19-year-old sister had also been diagnosed with PPS, and his 43-year-old mother was known to have a harsh systolic cardiac murmur of unknown etiology. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging showed a localized type of SVAS in his mother also, though not in his sister, both of whom had a somewhat straight thoracic spine, most noticeably in the mother, though not to the degree observed in the patient. This case appears to be familial, though it is not clear whether this skeletal abnormality is an unknown phenotypic feature of this cardiovascular disease. (Circ J 2002; 66: 516 - 518)