Rationale: Aortic valve sclerosis (AVS) has been associated with atherosclerosis and increased all-cause and cardiovascular death. However, whether AVS is associated with preclinical cardiovascular disease among adults at high risk because of hypertension has not been determined in a population-based sample.
Methods and results: Clinical and echocardiographic parameters were measured in 1624 hypertensive participants (54 +/- 11 years, 65% women, 63% black, 17% diabetic, 19% smokers) without significant valvular or cardiovascular diseases in the population-based Hypertension Genetic Epidemiology Network study. The 152 participants with AVS (9.4%), compared with participants without AVS, were older, more often white, male, treated for hypertension or hypercholesteromia (all P < 0.05) and had longer duration and worse hypertension, but did not differ in diabetes status, smoking or fenfluramine use. Adjusting for age, gender and race, the AVS group had higher total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (P < 0.05). Controlling for age, gender, race and other clinical covariates, AVS was independently associated with higher septal, posterior and relative wall thicknesses, isovolumic relaxation time and left atrial diameter, and with mild aortic regurgitation and mitral annular calcification (all P < 0.05).
Conclusions: In a population-based sample of hypertensive adults, AVS was prevalent (9.4%) and associated with a proatherogenic clinical profile and abnormal left ventricular geometry and filling, increased left atrial size and mitral annular calcification, which may contribute to the adverse prognosis associated with AVS.