Correlation between coronary and valve calcification: Review of current evidence

Abstract

<p>We carried out a review of the correlation between calcification of different arteries and valves and their risk factors to determine the extent of the association. We found a strong correlation between calcification presence, extent and progression between different arterial beds and the aortic valve, suggesting that calcification is a systemic diffuse disease, affecting the arterial tree as a whole. Despite this strong association, a comparison between coronary artery calcification (CAC) and calcification of other arteries may not be strictly valid, since only intimal calcification is seen in the coronary artery while other arteries may also contain medial calcification, with current scanning modalities being incapable of detecting the difference. Furthermore the pathogenesis of each type may be different.</p><p>Calcification seems to appear first in the coronary artery in younger adults but may be more prevalent in the aorta in the elderly, although the incidence is notably higher in the abdominal aorta among women. Mitral annulus calcification (MAC) occurs less frequently than aortic valve calcification (AVC) in asymptomatic subjects only. MAC is correlated with calcification of the aorta and advanced MAC is found with higher CAC but there is little relationship with AVC and calcification of other arterial beds. As with the coronary artery, in the aorta and aortic valve, calcium begets calcium. Although age, male gender and possibly systolic hypertension are most frequently associated with arterial calcification, there is little consistency for other conventional risk factors and MAC and</p><p>abdominal aortic calcification may be more prevalent among postmenopausal women. When the presence of CAC is factored in as a risk factor for calcification of the other arteries, multivariate analysis shows no additional significant risk factors except age.</p><p>Although AVC has been viewed as a cardiac manifestation of atherosclerosis, we found little evidence to suggest that this is also true of MAC.</p>