CALCIFICATION OF THE AORTIC VALVE AND OF THE CORONARY ARTERIES

Abstract

This is a clinical and fluoroscopic survey report of 400 men over the age of 60 to determine the frequency of calcareous aortic stenosis and of calcification elsewhere in the heart. Calcification of the aortic valve was found in 11 (3%) and of the coronary arteries in 14 (4%). The patients with calcification of the aortic valve all had signs of aortic stenosis. Calcified coronary arteries were observed in 14 instances, in the left 10, in the right 3, and in the right and left circumflex 1. In 72 post mortem hearts (not included in the 400 cases) of whom 50 were over 60, calcification of the aortic valves was noted in 22 (30%) and calcification in the coronary arteries was seen in 38 (53%).