ABSTRACT
AORTIC STENOSIS Etiology and Prevalence Valvular AS in elderly patients is usually due to stiffening, scarring, and calcification of the aortic valve leaflets. The commissures are not fused as in rheumatic AS. Calcific deposits in the aortic valve are common in elderly patients and may lead to valvular AS (1-7). Aortic cuspal calcium was present in 295 of 752 men (36%), mean age 80 years, and in 672 of 1663 women (40%), mean age 82 years (6). Of 2358 patients, mean age 81 years, 378 (16%) of them had valvular AS, 981 (42%) had valvular aortic sclerosis (thickening of or calcific deposits on the aortic valve cusps with a peak flow velocity across the aortic valve 1.5 m/s), and 999 (42%) had no valvular AS or aortic sclerosis (7). Calcific deposits in the aortic valve were present in 22 of 40 necropsy patients (55%) aged 90-103 years (2). Calcium of the aortic valve and mitral annulus may coexist (1-3,8,9).
