An aortic ejection click is produced by thickened aortic valve leaflets. These clicks can be generated in a bicuspid aortic valve, which is a congenital abnormality with two aortic valve leaflets instead of the three normal leaflets.
A single first heart sound (S1) followed by an aortic ejection click (AEC) can mimic a split first heart sound. An AEC follows S1 by 50 milliseconds. An AEC will have a higher pitch and shorter duration than S1. The recommended auscultation point is the aortic valve area where splitting of S1 is not heard.
Listen
The patient's position is sitting.
Visualize
Observe
An aortic ejection click is caused by thickened aortic valve leaflets. This is commonly seen in a bicuspid aortic valve, a congenital abnormality where someone is born with two aortic valve leaflets instead of the normal three.
