A New Three-Dimensional Echocardiography Method to Quantify Aortic Valve Calcification

Background Aortic valve calcification (AVC) quantification is computed from multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that three-dimensional (3D) transthoracic echocardiography can be used to provide a bedside method to assess AVC. Methods The study included 94 patients (mean age, 78 ± 12 years; mean aortic valve [AV] area, 1.0 ± 0.6 cm 2 ) referred for MDCT and echocardiography for AV assessment. Apical 3D full-volume data sets focused on the AV region were acquired during transthoracic echocardiography, and a region-growing algorithm was applied offline to compute 3D transthoracic echocardiographic AVC (AVC-3DEcho). AVC-3DEcho was compared with AVC by MDCT and with calcium weight in the subgroup of patients referred for surgery, with explanted AVs analyzed by a pathologist ( n  = 22). Results In the explanted valve group, AVC-3DEcho score exhibited fair correlations with MDCT score ( r  = 0.85, P r  = 0.81, P r  = 0.64, P r  = 0.61, P 1,054 mm 3 identified severe aortic stenosis with specificity of 100% and sensitivity of 76%. In addition, AVC-3DEcho was associated with the presence of significant paravalvular regurgitation after transcatheter aortic valve implantation. Finally, intraobserver and interobserver variability for AVC-3DEcho score was 4.2% and 8.9%, respectively. Conclusions AVC-3DEcho correlated with calcium weight obtained from pathologic analysis and MDCT. These data suggest that a bedside method for quantifying AV calcification with ultrasound is feasible.