title: Aortic valve sclerosis is an echocardiographic indicator of significant coronary disease in patients undergoing diagnostic coronary angiography.
abstract: Aortic valve sclerosis (AVS) is considered to be a manifestation of generalised atherosclerosis that involves the aortic valve. It has been associated with higher cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in a population-based study. This investigation used transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) to evaluate the prevalence and significance of AVS in 357 Chinese patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). This work reveals that AVS is an independent echocardiographic predictor of significant CAD in such clinical setting (O.R.=3.18; 95% confidence interval 1.52-6.7; p=0.002). Other independent predictors include male gender, diabetes mellitus and hypertriglyceridemia. The predictive value of AVS for the presence of CAD is more prominent in females and in subjects aged <65 years. The recognition of AVS on TTE should alert the physicians to the possibility of underlying significant CAD, and further evaluation with aggressive management is indicated, even though no angiographic documentation is available.
authors.affiliation: Section of General Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: S-Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: I-C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: S-H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: M-S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: K-C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Hung
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000379:methods; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012598:Sclerosis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity