title: Association of mitral annulus calcification with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, which is a marker of inflammation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There are limited clinical data revealing the relationship between mitral annular calcification (MAC) and systemic inflammation. The goal of the present study was to compare high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels in patients with and without MAC and investigate the relationship between MAC and hs-CRP.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred patients with MAC who underwent transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and 100 age-matched controls without MAC who underwent TTE were included in our study. Hs-CRP levels were compared between groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prevalence of female gender, hypertension, and coronary artery disease were significantly higher in the MAC group than in the control group (64% versus 45%, P = 0.007, 42% versus 28%, P = 0.03 and 37% versus 18%, P = 0.003, resp.). On multivariate analysis, age, gender, and coronary artery disease were the only independent predictors of MAC. The levels of hs-CRP were higher in the MAC group than in the control group (2.02 ± 0.35 versus 1.43 ± 0.47 mg/dl, P < 0.001). This increase in hs-CRP levels in the MAC group persisted in patients without hypertension, coronary artery disease, and in male patients when compared to the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study demonstrated that hs-CRP, which is a sensitive marker of systemic inflammation, increased in patients with MAC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Elazığ Education and Research Hospital, 23100 Elazığ, Turkey. erkurtoglu@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Ertuğrul
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kurtoğlu
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Korkmaz
authors.forename: Erdal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aktürk
authors.forename: Mücahid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yılmaz
authors.forename: Yakup
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Altaş
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uçkan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005919:Glomerular Filtration Rate; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications; D007249:Inflammation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000473:pathology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein