Calcification of the ascending aorta, left heart valves and coronaries: associated diseases and a new classification

Abstract

Aim: The topography of vascular and valvular calcification could help accurately predict cardiovascular post-operative complications. The data on these calcifications remains scarce. Purpose: Identify the topographic distribution of the ascending aortic, left heart valves and coronary calcifications. Materials & methods: We extracted 26 variables from 557 patients, hospitalized between 2017 and 2020. The topography of calcification was evaluated by thoracic CT scans. Both multivariate logistic regression and classification and regression tree (CART) were used for statistical analysis. Results: Several comorbidities were associated with vascular or valvular calcification. This study proposes a CART tree for patients according to their age, sex, Euroscore and lipid profile. Conclusion: The proposed classification could represent an important clinical tool. More studies are warranted to better prune the current CART algorithm.