title: Mitral and aortic valve sclerosis/calcification and carotid atherosclerosis: results from 1065 patients.
abstract: This study assesses whether aortic valve sclerosis (AVS) and mitral annulus calcification (MAC) are associated with carotid artery atherosclerosis, independently of traditional cardiovascular risk factors. A total of 1065 patients underwent both echocardiography and carotid artery ultrasound scanning. AVS and MAC were defined as focal areas of increased echogenicity and thickening of the aortic leaflets or mitral valve annulus. Carotid artery atherosclerosis was defined as presence/absence of any atherosclerotic plaque or presence/absence of plaque >50 %. Of 1065 patients (65 ± 9 years; 38 % female) who comprised the study population, 642 (60 %) had at least one atherosclerotic plaque. AVS, but not mitral valve sclerosis; was associated with the presence of carotid atherosclerosis (odds ratio (OR) 1.9, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.2-3.9; P = 0.005) and the degree of carotid atherosclerosis (OR 2.1, 95 % CI 1.2-3.9; P = 0.01) in a multivariate model including age, gender, previous ischemic heart disease, hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking, diabetes, family cardiovascular history, left ventricular size, mass, and ejection fraction, and left atrial size. AVS is a significant predictor of carotid atherosclerosis, independently of other cardiovascular clinical and echocardiographic risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina, Sezione di Cardiologia, University of Verona, Verona, Italy, andrea.rossi@ospedaleuniverona.it.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Pompilio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Faggiano
authors.forename: Alexandra E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Amado
authors.forename: Mariantonietta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cicoira
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonapace
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Franceschini
authors.forename: Frank L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Dini
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghio
authors.forename: Eustachio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Agricola
authors.forename: Pier Luigi
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Temporelli
authors.forename: Corrado
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vassanelli
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000473:pathology*; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000473:pathology*; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors