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Heart Disease Community
This patient support community is for discussions relating to angina, angioplasty, arrhythmia, bypass surgery, cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease, defibrillator, heart attack, heart disease, high blood pressure, mitral valve, pacemaker, PAD, stenosis, and stress tests.
Aortic Stenosis
by pulzie, Jan 13, 2008 05:54AM
Is Mild Aortic Stenosis always and inidcator for CAD. Also can this condition be reversed with treatment of high cholesterol levels or does it naturally just progress. Also is there a level of error related to this specific reading on echo either due to technician or reader of report. Sorry, not Stenosis. Meant mild Aortic SCLEROSIS.
I also have extremely high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, due to hyperlipidemia (an inherited condition), and have not been able to tolerate statins until recently. I am taking 20 mg of Lipitor daily and it may be my imagination, but I think I can tell it is working. I can't wait to see my test results today.
I will post excerpts below and links to info on aortic sclerosis, which only means a calcium buildup on the aortic valve. When the arteries have calcium and damage, it is call arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries which is a natural aging process. Trouble is, when you are < 60 or so, it is a real sign of morbidity and mortality.
The degree of calcium and it's affect on the functioning of the aortic valve is what distinguishes sclerosis from stenosis. Stenosis can cause the opening of the aortic valve to become smaller and "more stiff". This can lead to many serious conditions such as heart attack and stroke. The aortic valve has to open in order for fresh oxygenated blood to reach our organs including the coronary arteries that supply the muscle of the heart. Blood to our coronary arteries/heart only flows when are heart is in the diastolic or resting phase. So, you can see that a smaller opening in our aortic valve would impede flow to our hearts, due to the blood being at less pressure. (diastolic versus systolic). This is how it can cause a heart attack.
I have read that some statins, maybe any that work for you, can reverse this otherwise progressive condition. Sclerosis does not always progress to stenosis, I guess because people find out about the sclerosis and change their lifestyle and lower their cholesterol by use of statins if needed. I think this is mentioned below. I know that I read of it yesterday. Some unfortunate people that I know have waited until their aortic valve is stenotic and must be replaced.
Per my research, aortic sclerosis is an indicator of CAD in many cases. Sorry about that. Clinical test have shown why aortic sclerosis is associated with a high rate of mortality. The answer is CAD. It is discussed below.
Echocardiograms are interpreted by doctors, so the interpretation is subjective. Some doctors have better skills compared to others in interpreting the results of an echocardiogram. Some doctors specialize in interpreting echocardiograms. I have seen this difference in ability through first hand experience, or either I have a rapidly changing heart!
The lab equipment can be obsolete, or at least out of date/not calibrated correctly, especially for M mode (single dimension). The tech that performs the echo can make mistakes. As you know, they locate areas of the heart and "click with a mouse to mark" one boundary of say the LV posterior wall and then click the mouse to mark the other boundary or side of the LV posterior wall. I have seen some in a real hurry, like they are trying to impress you. That makes me get the feeling that they are unprofessional with such an extremely important test. This is to me the very best cardiovascular test for the money, if given and interpreted correctly.
So I would most definitely say that there is a possible level of error with these tests.
Best of luck and I hope the below info does not overwhelm you.
Jack
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2004 The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, data from the Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan, USA
"Adverse outcome in aortic sclerosis is associated with coronary artery disease and inflammation."
OBJECTIVES: The present study was designed to evaluate the relationship between the presence of aortic sclerosis, serologic markers of inflammation, and adverse cardiovascular outcomes.
BACKGROUND: Aortic sclerosis is associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. However, the mechanism by which such nonobstructive valve lesions impart excess cardiovascular risk has not been delineated.
CONCLUSIONS: The increased incidence of adverse cardiovascular events in patients with aortic sclerosis is associated with coronary artery disease and inflammation, not a result of the effects of valvular heart disease per se.
It is associated with an increase of approximately 50% in the risk of death from cardiovascular causes and the risk of myocardial infarction. The mechanism by which aortic sclerosis contributes to or is associated with increased cardiovascular risk is not known. Aortic sclerosis