Retracted: Relation of atherosclerotic cardiovascular events to progression of aortic stenosis in older men

Abstract

Background: Aortic stenosis (AS) is now considered to be an active disease like atherosclerosis. However, therapies such as statins have not shown benefit in AS patientswhen studied prospectively. Hypothesis: We tested the hypothesis that if AS was indeed similar to atherosclerosis, then subjects with progressive AS should have a higher atherosclerosis related event rate than those without progression of AS. Methods: Two readers independently measured the aortic valve area using a continuity equation in 164 consecutive subjects with AS between January 1997 through March 2005, referred to our laboratory for serial echocardiograms for AS. Subjects with no progression of AS were compared to subjects with progression of reduction in valve area with regards to baseline demographics, occurrence of allmyocardial infarctions, stroke, unstable angina requiring hospitalization, and coronary revascularization. A X2 test were use to compare the groups for differences in endpoints. Results: The study cohort included164males age 70±9 years. Age, low-density lipoprotein level, hypertension, or diabetes status were similar among the 2 groups, while the no progression group had more smokers and fewer patients on statins (P