Premium
Effect of Bisphosphonates on the Progression of Degenerative Aortic Stenosis
Author(s) -
Innasimuthu Antony Leslie,
Katz William E.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
echocardiography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1540-8175
pISSN - 0742-2822
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-8175.2010.01256.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cardiology , stenosis , bisphosphonate , ejection fraction , calcification , valvular heart disease , aortic valve , retrospective cohort study , cohort , surgery , osteoporosis , heart failure
Bisphosphonates appear to regulate mineralization in both bone and vasculature. Degenerative aortic stenosis (AS) is thought to be due to vascular calcification. We studied the effect of bisphosphonates on the progression of degenerative AS. A retrospective study was performed on patients >70 years, who had transthoracic echocardiograms (TTE) >1 year apart and an initial aortic valve area (AVA) of 0.6–2.0 cm 2 . Patients were excluded if they had an ejection fraction <40%, other significant valvular or congenital heart disease, end‐stage renal disease or heart transplant. The cohort was divided depending on the use of bisphosphonates. Data were obtained by review of the TTE reports. AVA, peak and mean aortic valve gradient (AVG), and the change between the studies were calculated. Of 4,270 patients screened for AS, 76 patients fit study criteria with 8 in the bisphosphonate group and 68 in the nonbisphosphonate group. The period between the TTEs was 23 ± 5 months in both the groups. AVA in the nonbisphosphonate group worsened by 0.2 cm 2 and in the bisphosphonate group it improved by 0.1 cm 2 (P = 0.001 vs. nonbisphosphonate). The changes in peak and mean AVG between groups and compared to baseline were not significant. Bisphosphonates show promise for slowing the progression of degenerative AS. (Echocardiography 2011;28:1‐7)