title: Relationship between plaque morphology of carotid artery and aortic valve calcification.
abstract: Aortic and mitral valvular calcifications are found to be associated with atherosclerotic risk factors and are largely accepted as part of a generalized atherosclerotic process. As well as the severity of stenosis, embologenic properties of plaques are also responsible for ischemic potentials of atherosclerotic plaques in carotid arteries. In this study, the authors aimed to define the characteristics of plaque morphology in patients with and without aortic valvular calcification (AVC) and to show the association between AVC and carotid plaque characteristics. Carotid plaque morphology in 182 consecutive patients with AVC was compared with plaque characteristics in 170 patients without AVC. Risk factors for atherosclerosis, age, and gender were similar in patients with and without AVC. The presence of carotid atherosclerosis, complex atheromas, and carotid artery stenosis was significantly higher in patients with AVC when compared with those without AVC (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, and p < 0.05, respectively). Unstable plaques (Types I and II) were also found to be more common in the patients with AVC than in those without AVC (p < 0.001). This study demonstrated the strong correlation between AVC and carotid atheromas. The plaques in patients with AVC are more unstable in morphology than in those without AVC, and this may explain the higher stroke incidence in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Yüksek Ihtisas Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. sozbal@ixir.com
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soylu
authors.forename: Ahmet Duran
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.forename: Ozcan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ozdemir
authors.forename: Yücel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Uzun
authors.forename: Sule
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Korkmaz
mesh_terms: D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000473:pathology*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000473:pathology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged