title: Relation between aortic valve sclerosis and ankle-brachial index in participants clinically free of atherosclerotic vascular disease.
abstract: Most patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) are asymptomatic and have similar vascular morbidity and mortality with patients with symptomatic PAD. Despite being a very highly prevalent disease, physicians underdiagnose and undertreat PAD. A total of 100 participants with aortic valve sclerosis (AVS) and 100 participants without AVS and age-, gender-, and cardiovascular risk factor-matched participants were enrolled. Ankle-brachial index (ABI) and AVS were evaluated by handheld Doppler device and echocardiography, respectively. There was significantly lower ABI in participants with AVS compared with those without AVS (1.04 ± 0.14 v 1.11 ± 0.07, P = .001). There was a negative correlation between ABI and AVS (r = -.29, P < .001). Linear regression analysis demonstrated an independent association between ABI and AVS (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.91 to -0.27, P < .001) and β-blocker use (95% CI: -0.96 to -0.02, P: .04). Our findings confirm an association between AVS and PAD that may be attributed to shared vascular risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Ahi Evren Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Trabzon, Turkey. l.korkmaz@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Levent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Korkmaz
authors.forename: Mustafa Tarık
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Ağaç
authors.forename: Huseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bektas
authors.forename: Mustafa Oguz
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Varol
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Erkan
authors.forename: Zeydin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Acar
authors.forename: Devrim
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kurt
authors.forename: Şükrü
authors.initials: Ş
authors.lastname: Çelik
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors