Relationship of metabolic syndrome with incident aortic valve calcium and aortic valve calcium progression: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).
OBJECTIVE
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been associated with increased prevalence of aortic valve calcium (AVC) and with increased progression of aortic stenosis. The purpose of this study was to determine whether MetS is associated with increased risks for the development of new ("incident") AVC or for progression of established AVC as assessed by CT.


METHODS
The relationships of MetS or its components as well as of diabetes to risks for incident AVC or AVC progression were studied among participants with CT scans performed at baseline and at either year 2 or year 3 examinations in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).


RESULTS
Of 5,723 MESA participants meeting criteria for inclusion, 1,674 had MetS by Adult Treatment Panel III criteria, whereas 761 had diabetes. Among the 5,123 participants without baseline AVC, risks for incident AVC, adjusted for time between scans, age, sex, race/ethnicity, LDL cholesterol, lipid-lowering medications, and smoking, were increased significantly for MetS (odds ratio [OR] 1.67 [95% CI 1.21-2.31]) or diabetes (2.06 [1.39-3.06]). In addition, there was an increase in incident AVC risk with increasing number of MetS components. Similar results were found using the International Diabetes Federation MetS criteria. Among the 600 participants (10.5%) with baseline AVC, neither MetS nor diabetes was associated with AVC progression.


CONCLUSIONS
In the MESA cohort, MetS was associated with a significant increase in incident ("new") AVC, raising the possibility that MetS may be a potential therapeutic target to prevent AVC development.
Katz
Ronit
R
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA. rkatz@u.washington.edu
Budoff
Matthew J
MJ
Takasu
Junichiro
J
Shavelle
David M
DM
Bertoni
Alain
A
Blumenthal
Roger S
RS
Ouyang
Pamela
P
Wong
Nathan D
ND
O'Brien
Kevin D
KD
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D018450:Disease Progression; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D008875:Middle Aged; D044469:Racial Groups; D011859:Radiography; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D008078:Cholesterol, LDL