What are heart defects of Turner syndrome patients?
Approximately 20 percent of Turner syndrome patients will have a heart defect. The most common problem is coarctation of the aorta, which is a narrowing of the main artery (the aorta) as it carries the red, oxygen-rich blood away from the left side of the heart to the body. There have been reports of rupture of the aorta in older individuals with Turner syndrome, presumably due to an abnormality in the strength of the aortic wall. Other common heart defects include a bicuspid aortic valve (two, rather than the normal three leaflets in the valve between the left ventricle and the aorta), aortic stenosis (narrowing of the aortic valve) and atrial septal defect (hole between the upper collecting chambers, or atria, of the heart).
