1. Stenotic Bicuspid and Tricuspid Aortic Valves ― Micro-Computed Tomography and Biological Indices of Calcification ―
- Author
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Mazur, Piotr, Wypasek, Ewa, Gawęda, Bogusław, Sobczyk, Dorota, Kapusta, Przemysław, Natorska, Joanna, Malinowski, Krzysztof, Tarasiuk, Jacek, Bochenek, Maciej, Wroński, Sebastian, Chmielewska, Katarzyna, Kapelak, Bogusław, and Undas, Anetta
- Subjects
Male ,0301 basic medicine ,Aortic valve ,medicine.medical_specialty ,030204 cardiovascular system & hematology ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Bicuspid aortic valve ,Internal medicine ,Humans ,Integrin-Binding Sialoprotein ,Medicine ,Vascular Calcification ,Aged ,business.industry ,Micro computed tomography ,RANK Ligand ,Aortic Valve Stenosis ,X-Ray Microtomography ,General Medicine ,Plasma levels ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Stenosis ,030104 developmental biology ,Aortic valve area ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Gene Expression Regulation ,Calcium content ,Cardiology ,Mitral Valve ,Female ,Tricuspid Valve ,Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine ,business ,Calcification - Abstract
Background Valve calcification is well estimated by ex-vivo micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). The objective of this study was to investigate the associations between micro-CT findings and biological indices of calcification in aortic stenosis (AS), as well as differences between bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) and tricuspid aortic valve (TAV).Methods and Results:Aortic valves and plasma were obtained from patients undergoing valve surgery. Valves were dissected and underwent micro-CT, genetic analyses, and calcium content assessment. Plasma levels of calcification markers were measured. Forty-two patients with isolated severe AS, including 22 with BAV, were studied. BAV patients had a lower median CT value (140.0 [130.0-152.0] vs. 157.0 [147.0-176.0], P=0.002) and high-density calcification (HDC) fraction (9.3 [5.7-23.3] % vs. 21.3 [14.3-31.2] %, P=0.01), as compared with TAV. Calcification fraction (CF) correlated with AS severity (measured as maximal transvalvular pressure gradient [r=0.34, P=0.03], maximal flow velocity [r=0.38, P=0.02], and indexed aortic valve area [r=-0.37, P=0.02]). For TAV patients only, mRNA expression of integrin-binding sialoprotein correlated with CF (r=0.45, P=0.048), and the receptor activator of the nuclear factor κ-B ligand transcript correlated with HDC corrugation (r=0.54, P=0.01). Conclusions TAV patients with AS present more mineralized calcifications in micro-CT than BAV subjects. The relative volume of calcifications increases with the AS severity. In TAV patients, upregulated expression of genes involved in osteoblastogenesis in AS correlates with leaflet mineralization in micro-CT.
- Published
- 2017
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