title: Aortic valve calcification in 499 consecutive patients referred for computed tomography.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Aortic valve calcification (AVC) is the most common cause of aortic stenosis. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of aortic valve, coronary artery and aortic calcifications and to evaluate the correlation between calcification of the aortic valve, coronary arteries and aorta.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 499 patients aged 60 years and over who underwent coronary computed tomography because of chest pain. Beside coronary artery calcium score (CAC), we evaluated AVC and ascending aorta calcifications (AAC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Aortic valve calcification was found in 144 subjects (28.9% of the whole study population). Prevalence of CAC and AAC was higher than AVC and amounted to 73.8% and 54.0%. Prevalence of AVC, CAC and AAC was significantly lower in the group of patients ≤ 70 years than in the group of patients > 70 years of age (p = 0.0002, p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001). Aortic valve calcification was more often observed in men than women (34.7% vs. 25.4%, p = 0.02). Degree of aortic valve calcification was also significantly higher among men than women (median score 4 vs. 0, p = 0.01). Similar observations were true for CAC and AAC, where both prevalence and degree of calcification was higher among men than women. In the whole study population no correlation was noted between AVC and CAC or AAC (p = 0.34, p = 0.85). There was a significant correlation between AAC and CAC (p < 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite some similarities in pathological mechanism and risk factors, a degenerative defect of the aortic valve could be independent of atheromatous lesions in the coronary arteries and aorta.
authors.affiliation: Department of Valvular Heart Disease, Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galas
authors.affiliation: Department of Valvular Heart Disease, Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hryniewiecki
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Ilona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Michałowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Coronary and Structural Heart Diseases, Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Cezary
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kępka
authors.affiliation: Department of Valvular Heart Disease, Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Elżbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Abramczuk
authors.affiliation: Department of Valvular Heart Disease, Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Orłowska-Baranowska
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Witold
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rużyłło
keywords: aortic valve; calcification; computed tomography