Aortic valve sclerosis: is it a cardiovascular risk factor or a cardiac disease marker?
BACKGROUND
Aortic valve sclerosis, without stenosis, has been associated with an increased cardiovascular mortality and morbidity due to myocardial infarction. However, it is unclear whether it is a cardiovascular risk factor or a cardiac disease marker. The goal of our study is to evaluate the difference in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and risk factors among patients with or without aortic sclerosis.


METHODS
This observational study compared a group of 142 consecutive subjects with aortic valve sclerosis, assigned as group S, with a group of 101 subjects without aortic sclerosis, assigned as group C. Patients with bicuspid aortic valves and those with antegrade Doppler velocity across aortic valve leaflets exceeding 2.0 m/sec were excluded.


RESULTS
Mean ages of groups S and C were 71 +/- 8, and 68.8 +/- 6 years, respectively (P value = not significant). The prevalence of smoking, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, pulse pressure, left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, atrial fibrillation, and stroke was not significantly different between the two groups. However, there was a significantly higher prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy (P = 0.05), ventricular arrhythmias (P = 0.02), myocardial infarction (P = 0.04), and systolic heart failure (P = 0.04) in aortic sclerosis group.


CONCLUSIONS
Aortic sclerosis is associated with a higher prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy, ventricular arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, and systolic heart failure, while the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors is not different between aortic sclerosis patients and controls. Hence, aortic sclerosis represents a cardiac disease marker useful for early identification of high-risk patients beyond cardiovascular risk factors rate.
Palmiero
Pasquale
P
A.S.L.BR 1, District Cardiology Department, Brindisi, Italy. pasqualepalmiero@yahoo.it
Maiello
Maria
M
Passantino
Andrea
A
Wasson
Sanjeev
S
Reddy
Hanumanth K
HK
D000368:Aged; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors