Myocardial blood flow reserve is impaired in patients with aortic valve calcification and unobstructed epicardial coronary arteries

摘要

Background: Although calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is associated with coronary atherosclerosis, it is not known whether early CAVD is associated with coronary microcirculatory dysfunction (CMD). We sought to investigate the relationship between myocardial blood flow reserve (MBFR) - a measure of CMD, and early CAVD in the absence of obstructive epicardial coronary artery disease. We also determined whether this relationship was independent of coronary artery disease (CAD) and hs-CRP, a marker of systemic inflammation.