4.8 Article

Mitral and aortic annular calcification are highly associated with systemic calcified atherosclerosis

Journal

CIRCULATION
Volume 113, Issue 6, Pages 861-866

Publisher

LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.105.552844

Keywords

atherosclerosis; calcium; mitral valve; aorta; valves

Ask authors/readers for more resources

Background - Atherosclerosis has been implicated as a cause of valvular calcification. The aim of this study was to determine whether atherosclerotic calcification in multiple vascular areas is significantly associated with aortic or mitral annular calcification independent of traditional risk factors. Methods and Results - A total of 1242 consecutive asymptomatic patients free of clinical coronary heart disease were studied by electron-beam computed tomography for the extent of calcium due to atherosclerosis in 5 distinct vascular beds and calcium in the aortic and mitral annuli. Nearly 24% had calcium in the aortic annulus, whereas 8% were found to have mitral annular calcification. Age and a history of hypertension were the only traditional cardiovascular risk factors that were independently associated with prevalent calcification in the aortic and mitral annuli. After adjustment for age, gender, and cardiovascular disease risk factors, subjects with calcium in the thoracic aorta had the highest odds for the presence of aortic annular calcium (OR = 3.9, P < 0.01), whereas those with calcium in the abdominal aorta had the highest odds for mitral annular calcification (OR = 5.1, P = 0.01). Standardized increases in calcium in the abdominal aorta (OR = 2.0, P < 0.01) and iliacs (OR = 1.8, P = 0.01) were significantly associated with calcium in the aortic annulus after adjustment for the extent of calcium in the other vascular beds, whereas the thoracic aorta was significantly associated (OR = 1.4, P = 0.02) with calcium in the mitral annulus. Conclusions - This study supports the hypothesis that calcification of the mitral and aortic annuli is related to atherosclerosis in other vascular beds.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.8
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available