[The relationship of osteoporosis to mitral annular and aortic valvular calcification in elderly women].

Mitral annular calcification (MAC) and aortic valve calcification (AVC) are thought to be attributable to the aging process, and their incidences are especially high in elderly women. It is known that the incidence of osteoporosis (OP) is also relatively high in elderly women. Therefore, we investigated the relationship of OP to MAC and AVC. The study subjects were 39 women aged 70-89 years. MAC and AVC were investigated by echocardiography. The amount of bone mineral (BM) in the lumbar vertebral bone was measured by computed tomography using a bone phantom and the standard amount of CaCO3. MAC and AVC were detected in 14 (35.9%) and 19 (48.7%) of the 39 subjects, respectively, and there was a tendency of coexistence of MAC and AVC. There was no significant age difference between patients with and without MAC. The amount of BM was significantly lower in patients with MAC than in patients without it (27.1 +/- 8.2 vs 53.5 +/- 27.3 mg/cm3: p less than 0.01). There was no correlation between the amounts of BM and AVC. In conclusion, the amount of BM is clearly lower in elderly women with MAC, suggesting that MAC may be related to OP etiologically. However, there was no clear relationship between AVC and OP. Thus, the etiologies of AVC and MAC may be different.