Imaging Characteristics of Senile Degenerative Valve Calcification and Its Association with Coronary Heart Disease

YUE Guodong

doi:10.12102/j.issn.1672-1349.2025.15.020

Abstract：Objective: To observe the evaluation effect of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) on cardiac valve calcification in elderly patients with chest pain, and to analyze the relationship between cardiac valve calcification and the occurrence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in elderly patients with chest pain. Methods: A total of 60 elderly patients with chest pain admitted to Hengshui Second People's Hospital from September 2021 to August 2023 were selected. All patients underwent TTE and coronary angiography (CAG). The results of TTE in evaluating cardiac valve calcification were observed, and the patients were divided into calcified group and non-calcified group according to TTE results. According to CAG results, the patients were divided into CHD group and non-CHD group. The relationship between cardiac valve calcification and CHD was explored. Results: TTE showed that 32 out of 60 elderly patients with chest pain had cardiac valve calcification (53.33%), among which isolated aortic valve calcification (AVC) was the most common (75.00%), while AVC combined with mitral annular calcification (MAC) was the least common (6.25%). According to CAG, 50 out of 60 elderly patients with chest pain had CHD (83.33%). The age, smoking history, and proportion of cardiac valve calcification in the CHD group were higher than those in the non-CHD group (P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age, smoking history, and cardiac valve calcification were independent risk factors for CHD in elderly patients with chest pain (P < 0.05). The proportion of double-vessel lesions and multi-vessel lesions in the calcified group was higher than that in the non-calcified group (P < 0.05). Furthermore, Spearman correlation analysis showed that cardiac valve calcification was positively correlated with the number of coronary artery lesions (r = 0.524, P < 0.05). Conclusion: TTE has a high detection rate of AVC when evaluating cardiac valve calcification in elderly patients with chest pain. Cardiac valve calcification can serve as a predictive factor for CHD and is closely related to the number of coronary artery lesions. It is recommended that clinical attention be given.