Does the relationship between aortic valve calcification load and aortic stenosis severity differ between men and women?
Women achieve similar aortic stenosis severity at lower aortic valve calcification loads compared to men, indicating that AVC load thresholds for diagnosing severe AS should be sex-specific.
In this large AS population, women incurred similar AS severity than men for lower AVC loads, even after indexing for their smaller body size. Hence, the relationship between valvular calcification process and AS severity differs in women and men, warranting further pathophysiological inquiry. For AS severity diagnostic purposes, interpretation of AVC load should be different in men and in women.
Aggarwal et al. (Wed,) studied this question.