Impact of diabetes mellitus on aortic valve calcification: a cross-sectional study of two large multicentre cohorts

@article{haujir2026impact,
  title = {{Impact of diabetes mellitus on aortic valve calcification: a cross-sectional study of two large multicentre cohorts}},
  author = {Amal Haujir and Preman Kumarathurai and Jacob V Stidsen and Per Løgstrup Poulsen and Kristian L Funck and Batool JY Mohammad and Emil Johannes Ravn and Selma Hasific and Camilla Engelsgaard and Remmon Washington and Lene Helleskov Madsen and Monija Mrgan Hansen and Anna Pietraszek and Thomas Kümler and Elena Calderon and Martin Busk and Morten Böttcher and Michael Hecht Olsen and Marek Karon and Jes Sanddal Lindholt and Jess Lambrechtsen and Marie-Annick Clavel and Kristian Altern Øvrehus and Axel Cosmus Pyndt Diederichsen and Jordi Sanchez Dahl},
  journal = {Open Heart},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1136/openhrt-2026-004415},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1136/openhrt-2026-004415},
  note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Impact of diabetes mellitus on aortic valve calcification: a cross-sectional study of two large multicentre cohorts
AU  - Amal Haujir
AU  - Preman Kumarathurai
AU  - Jacob V Stidsen
AU  - Per Løgstrup Poulsen
AU  - Kristian L Funck
AU  - Batool JY Mohammad
AU  - Emil Johannes Ravn
AU  - Selma Hasific
AU  - Camilla Engelsgaard
AU  - Remmon Washington
AU  - Lene Helleskov Madsen
AU  - Monija Mrgan Hansen
AU  - Anna Pietraszek
AU  - Thomas Kümler
AU  - Elena Calderon
AU  - Martin Busk
AU  - Morten Böttcher
AU  - Michael Hecht Olsen
AU  - Marek Karon
AU  - Jes Sanddal Lindholt
AU  - Jess Lambrechtsen
AU  - Marie-Annick Clavel
AU  - Kristian Altern Øvrehus
AU  - Axel Cosmus Pyndt Diederichsen
AU  - Jordi Sanchez Dahl
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/30
JO  - Open Heart
DO  - 10.1136/openhrt-2026-004415
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1136/openhrt-2026-004415
AB  - Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but its relationship with aortic valve calcification (AVC) remains unclear.  Objective: The present study aims to investigate whether the presence of DM is associated with a higher prevalence of AVC.  Methods: This cross-sectional study combines two large multicentre cohorts: Steno INTEN-CT (EUCT2022-500143-21-01) and DANCAVAS (NCT03946410). Participants with available AVC scores assessed by cardiac CT were included in the present study. Propensity score matching was performed to compare participants with DM to those without DM. AVC was analysed as a binary outcome (0 vs >0) using logistic regression with clustering by matched pairs.  Results: After propensity matching of participants with and without DM, 14 182 participants (7091 matched pairs) were included. Mean age was 67±4 years in the no-DM group compared with 66±4 years in the DM group, p<0.001. AVC was present in 54% and 52% of individuals without and with DM, respectively (p=0.003). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, DM was not associated with higher AVC prevalence (OR=0.88, 95%CI 0.80–0.96, p=0.004) while male sex, older age, higher body mass index, hypertension, smoking, higher low density lipoprotein cholesterol and statin use remained independently associated with higher prevalence of AVC. An interaction between statin use and DM was found in the association with AVC (p for interaction 0.018), suggesting a potentially stronger association between statin use and AVC among individuals without DM.  Conclusion: In this large cross-sectional cohort of 14,182 individuals without known cardiovascular disease, the presence of DM was not associated with higher prevalence of AVC. Instead, higher prevalence of AVC was independently associated with cardiovascular risk factors that frequently coexist with DM. These findings suggest that the previously reported relationship between DM and AVC may, at least partly, be related to accompanying cardiovascular risk factors rather than DM per se.
SN  - 2053-3624
ER  -