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Background: Obesity is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The goal of this study was to evaluate any association between aortic valve disease and obesity using a very large database. Methods: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample database was utilized for statistical analysis using ICD-9 codes for aortic valve disease and obesity in the United States from 2003 to 2007. A 25% random sample of nonobese patients was used for comparison of aortic valve disease prevalence during the same 5-year period. Results: A total of 1,971,812 patients with obesity were identified from 2003 to 2007. Comparing this population with a random sample of nonobese patients during the same years, there was no significant difference between obese and nonobese patients in regards to the prevalence of aortic valve disease (1. 1-1.2% in 2003 and 2004, 1.2% in 2005-2007, P = NS). After adjusting for age, gender, and race, obesity was associated with lower prevalence of aortic valve disease in 2003-2007 (odds ratio 0.81-0.86, P < 0.01). Conclusions: Using a very large database, we found a decrease in the prevalence of aortic valve disease in the obese population. This suggests that obesity alone does not pathologically affect the aortic valve.

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