Etiology of Valvular Heart Disease in the 21st Century

Boudoulas, Konstantinos Dean
Borer, Jeffrey S.
Boudoulas, Harisios

^aDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio,
^bDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Howard Gilman Institute for Heart Valve Diseases and the Schiavone Institute for Cardiovascular Translational Research, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, N.Y., USA;
^cBiomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Athens, and
^dAristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

Received: June 10, 2013

Accepted after revision: July 1, 2013

Published online: August 24, 2013

Konstantinos Dean Boudoulas, MD

Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Ohio State University

473 W. 12th Avenue, Suite 200

Columbus, Ohio 43220 (USA)

E-Mail [email protected]

Cardiology 126(3):p 139-152, October 2013. | DOI: 10.1159/000354221

Abstract

A metamorphosis in the etiology of valvular heart disease (VHD) has occurred over the last 6 decades. In this review, the factors contributing to this metamorphosis, the common causes of VHD today, the relationship of valvular calcification to atherosclerosis and the interrelationship of VHD with other systems/organs are presented.