Aortic Valve Sclerosis Severity Index is a Predictor of Coronary Artery Disease Severity in Diabetic Patients with Ischemic Heart Disease

Background: The degree of aortic valve sclerosis can play a major role as an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease as in conditions like diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hyperlipidemia. Therefore, it can be directly linked to coronary artery diseases (CAD) severity making its assessment and measurement an important step before the costly or invasive investigations to diagnose CAD. The link between diabetes mellitus and CAD is firmly confirmed. DM in general confers a two-fold excess risk of vascular outcomes (coronary heart disease, ischaemic stroke, and vascular deaths) independent of other risk factors. Objective: To assess the association between aortic valve sclerosis severity index and severity of coronary artery disease and hence if it could be also used as a bedside predictor of severity of CAD. Patients and Methods: The study enrolled 100 diabetic patients with ischemic heart disease who were indicated for coronary angiography. Echocardiography was done for all patients to assess the aortic sclerosis severity index. Assessment of severity of CAD was done for all patients using SYNTAX score, number of affected vessels and degree of stenosis were also assessed. Results: There was statistically significant positive strong correlation between average aortic valve sclerosis score index with both SYNTAX score and number of affected vessels (r = 0.944, P value < 0.001 and r = 0.611, P value < 0.001 respectively). Conclusion: Aortic valve sclerosis severity index can be used as a predictor of severity of coronary artery disease in diabetic ischemic patients.