Association Between Mitral Annulus Calcification and Carotid Atherosclerotic Disease

Abstract

Background and Purpose-It has been established that mitral annulus calcification (MAC) is an independent predictor of stroke, though a causative relationship was not proved, and that carotid artery atherosclerotic disease is also associated with stroke. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is an association between the presence of MAC and carotid artery atherosclerotic disease.

Association Between Mitral Annular Calcification and Stroke

“…8,10) Consistent with the results of these 2 studies, we found a significant association between the presence of severe MAC and both carotid atheroma and stenosis > 60%. In the present The Wald value is equal to the "z statistic", which is used for testing the hypothesis of area.…”

“…In addition, carotid artery atherosclerotic disease has been found with high prevalence in elderly patients with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking, and DM. 13,14) The study of Adler, et al 8) was the first that showed a strong and significant association between the presence of MAC and carotid atherosclerosis. According to the results of their study, in the MAC group, MAC and age were the only independent predictors for carotid artery stenosis of ≥ 40%.…”

“…Our MAC criterium was an intense echo-producing structure ≥ 5 mm (severe MAC) located at the junction of the atrioventricular groove and posterior mitral valve leaflet on the parasternal long axis and apical 4-chamber views. 8,9) Carotid artery duplex sonography was performed with a 5-10 MHz transducer (Sonoline Antares, Siemens, Germany) and a 7.5 MHz transducer (Toshiba SSA-270 A, Japan). Carotid arteries were examined bilaterally.…”

Is Carotid Atherosclerosis More Important in Patients With Mitral Annular Calcification Than in Those Without?

“…[4][5][6][7][8] Also, in recent studies, a close relationship has been established between MAC and carotid atherosclerosis (CAS) or coronary artery disease (CAD). [9][10][11] In view of these reports, it has been suggested that MAC is a manifestation of diffuse atherosclerosis of the vascular system. In patients with MAC, cardiovascular risk factors such as hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus are also common, which lends further support to this hypothesis.…”

Impaired heart rate variability in patients with mitral annular calcification: an observational study

“…While some investigators were finding that subjects with MAC had a higher prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, increased BMI and smoking (31), others found no association between MAC, and diabetes and hyperlipidemia (32). Whereas, some researchers found significant relationships with CAD but not with smoking and gender (33). These differences with our study may be explained by (1) considerably younger population of our study than that seen in other studies, thus, some cardiac risk factors such as diabetes and hypercholesterolemia may not be overt at the time of study, (2) exclusion of patients from our study with renal failure, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, valvular disease, cerebrovascular disease and those with a BMI over 30 kg/m 2 , most of which were not excluded in most studies.…”