The Relationship Between Bone Mineral Density and Aortic Valve- Mitral Valve Calcification in Postmenopausal Women

Objective: Osteoporosis and heart valve calcification (HVC) are common diseases that cause serious morbidity and mortality in the aging population. Our study was planned to investigate the relationship between osteoporosis and HVC in postmenopausal women. Methods: Postmenopausal patients aged 50-75 years who had bone mineral density (BMD) and echocardiography (ECO) within the last year were included in the study, and lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) BMD measurements and ECO measurements were evaluated. BMD measurements were grouped as normal, osteopenia, and osteoporosis. Patients with and without HVC were compared according to the presence of osteopenia and osteoporosis. Results: A total of 77 postmenopausal women were included in the study. HVC was detected in 38 (49.4%) of them. Only aortic valve calcification (AVC) was detected in 33 patients, only mitral valve calcification (MVC) was detected in 20 patients, and both AVC and MVC were detected in 15 patients. Of the 33 patients with AVC, 25 had LS osteopenia/osteoporosis (OO) and 24 had FN OO. Of the 20 patients with MVC, 15 had LS OO and 15 had FN OO. In conclusion, we found that low bone mass has an independent and negative effect on HVC in postmenopausal women. We speculated that there may be a common pathophysiological mechanism for low BMD and HVC. Conlusion: We concluded that postmenopausal women with osteopenia or osteoporosis should be warned and referred for early diagnosis of HVC.