Valve hemodynamics during postnatal life in the aortic and pulmonary valve.

Trend lines for reported data on valve hemodynamics (black) and our measured data on annulus diameter (grey), matrix composition, and stiffness of the belly (red) during postnatal life in the aortic (A) and pulmonary valve (B). Left-sided pressures increase during childhood, while the right-sided pressures decrease to adult values rapidly after birth. Hemodynamic data are collected from several databases, including The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, MedScape and literature. Trend lines for our experimental data were obtained using the mean values of the data sets depicted in Figs 2, 4 and 6.