Aortic valve sclerosis in acute coronary syndrome patients : potential value in predicting coronary artery lesion complexity.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relation between aortic valve sclerosis (AVS) and coronary artery lesion complexity as assessed using the SYNTAX score (SxScore) in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients.


METHODS
A total of 164 patients with a first time diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome were consecutively enrolled. AVS was defined by echocardiography as thickening and calcification of the normal trileaflet aortic valve without obstruction to the left ventricular outflow. The SxScore was calculated using dedicated computer software.


RESULTS
There were significantly higher SxScores in subjects with AVS than those without AVS (18 ± 6 vs 12 ± 5, p = 0.02). In the univariate analysis, age (p = 0.03) and presence of AVS (p = 0.007) were significantly associated with higher SxScores. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated AVS [95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.17-0.86, p = 0.017] and age (95 % CI 1.01-1.21, p = 0.028) as independent determinants of higher SxScores.


CONCLUSIONS
Aortic valve sclerosis was significantly and independently associated with a high SxScore in acute coronary syndrome patients.
Department of Cardiology, Ahi Evren Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Trabzon, Turkey, l.korkmaz@yahoo.com.
L
L
Korkmaz
E
E
Pelit
H
H
Bektas
M T
MT
Ağaç
H
H
Erkan
I
I
Gurbak
Ş
Ş
Çelik
D054058:Acute Coronary Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000368:Aged; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012598:Sclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology