Correlation Between Aortic Valve Sclerosis and Coronary Artery Disease: A Cross - Sectional Study

  Introduction: Aortic valve sclerosisis considered as a manifestation of coronary atherosclerosis. Recent studies demonstrated an association between aortic valve sclerosis and obstructive coronary artery disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluatethe correlation betweenaortic valve sclerosis andobstructive coronary artery disease and the extent of coronary artery disease in patients hospitalized for chest pain.   Materials and Methods: A total of 230 consecutive patients were referred to the coronary angiography of GhaemMedical Center and were subjected to transthorasic echocardiography for screening of aortic valve sclerosis and coronary risk assessment. The diagnostic value of obstructive coronary artery disease for aortic valve sclerosis was calculated. Results: The patients with obstructive coronary artery disease had a higher prevalence of aortic valve sclerosis compared to those with no coronary artery disease (P< 0.05). Aortic valve sclerosis was an independent predictor for obstructive coronary artery disease by multivariate analysis (P< 0.05). Aortic valve sclerosis had sensitivity of 47% and specificity of 79% and positive predictor value of 92%. Conclusions: Aortic valve sclerosis was an independent predictor for obstructive coronary artery disease in patients with chest pain and was strongly interrelated with the extent of coronary artery disease in these patients.