title: Mitral annulus calcification is associated with valvular and cardiac structural abnormalities.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mitral annulus calcification (MAC) is a common finding on echocardiographic examination. The goal of this study was to evaluate associations between MAC and cardiac abnormalities using a large echocardiographic database.
  
  
  METHODS
  For this study we retrospectively reviewed 24,380 echocardiograms performed for clinical reasons between the years 1984 and 1998.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MAC was reported in 1,494 (6.1%) subjects. Using multivariate analysis, age, left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), mitral regurgitation (MR), tricuspid regurgitation (TR), aortic stenosis (AS), left atrial (LA) enlargement and reversed E/A ratio were independently associated with MAC.)MAC was noted in 11.7 % of patients with MR vs. 4.3% without MR (OR: 2.0, CI 1.6-2.6, p < 0.0001), in 13.9% of those with TR vs. 4.5% without TR (OR: 3.8, CI 2.9-4.8, p < 0.0001), in 10.6% with LVH vs. 4.2% without LVH (OR: 1.9, CI 1.5-2.4, p < 0.0001), in 14.8% with AS vs. 5.5% without AS (OR: 1.4, CI 1.08-1.9, p = 0.01), in 9.4% with reversed E/A ratio vs. 3.8% without reversed E/A ratio (OR: 1.7, CI 1.4-2.2, p < 0.0001) and in 8.2% with LA enlargement vs. 4.8% without LA enlargement (OR: 1.3, CI 1.06-1.7, p = 0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our study, MAC independently correlated with significant structural heart abnormalities. This suggests that identification of MAC may serve as a marker for other cardiac structural disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Section of Cardiology, University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center, Tucson, Arizona, USA. rmova@aol.com
authors.forename: Mohammad-Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Movahed
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Mastaneh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ahmadi-Kashani
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ebrahimi
mesh_terms: D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008944:Mitral Valve Insufficiency / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology