Elevated blood pressure and risk of aortic valve disease: A cohort analysis of 5.4 million UK adults

Abstract

Aims To test two related hypotheses that elevated blood pressure (BP) is a risk factor for aortic valve stenosis (AS) or regurgitation (AR). Methods and results In this cohort study of 5.4 million UK patients with no known cardiovascular disease or aortic valve disease at baseline, we investigated the relationship between BP and risk of incident AS and AR using multivariable-adjusted Cox regression models. Over a median follow-up of 9.2 years, 20 680 patients (0.38%) were diagnosed with AS and 6440 (0.12%) patients with AR. Systolic BP (SBP) was continuously related to the risk of AS and AR with no evidence of a nadir down to 115 mmHg. Each 20 mmHg increment in SBP was associated with a 41% ..