Background: There is a paucity of epidemiological data on the prevalence of degenerative aortic stenosis (AS) after the recent demographic changes and in the present therapeutic era. We sought to assess the prevalence of AS in an elderly population of an Italian urban area and to derive an epidemiological estimate of AS prevalence on a larger scale.
Methods: Elderly people (aged 75-95 years) of a 26 000 inhabitants town were clinically screened by general practitioners and classified into four groups: (1) no signs of AS; (2) known AS; (3) suspected AS (on the basis of the presence of a systolic murmur); (4) prior aortic valve replacement (AVR). Group 2 and 3 patients underwent physical examination and transthoracic echocardiography to confirm or rule out the diagnosis of AS, and to assess main comorbidities.
Results: Among the eligible patients, 2203 (93.7%) had no sign of AS; 49 (2.1%) had known AS; in 74 (3.1%) there was a systolic murmur suggesting AS, and 26 (1.1%) had previous AVR because of AS. Ten patients refused further screening, therefore 113 patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography. Among them, degenerative aortic disease without stenosis was observed in 22, and 63 had confirmed AS (severe in 21). Important comorbidities were frequently diagnosed in these patients. Including patients with previous AVR, AS was confirmed in 89/2350 patients (3.8%). On a regional scale, based on the demographics of this area, we estimated a prevalence of severe AS of 2248 cases per million inhabitants.
Conclusions: The prevalence of AS in a population aged 75-95 years was 3.8%, and it was not previously diagnosed in a sizable proportion. More attention for early diagnosis of AS in the elderly is warranted.