The Relationship of Mitral Anular Calcification with Mortality and Myocardial Injury in COVID-19 Patients

Objective: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) can particularly affect the respiratory and cardiovascular systems and cause serious mortality. Mitral annular calcification (MAC) is a mitral valve pathology associated with cardiac mortality. We aimed to evaluate the effect of MAC on myocardial injury (MI) and mortality, which can develop secondary to COVID-19 infection. Materials and Methods: After applying the exclusion criteria, thorax computed tomography (CT) images of the remaining 1151 consecutive COVID-19 patients were evaluated. Calculation of MAC scores was done by two expert radiologists blinded to the study data. MI was defined as those with hs-TnI level (≥34 ng/dl). Patients included in the study were classified as having mortality and not occurring. Results: Male gender, advanced age (>65), hypertension, diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease (CKD), coronary artery disease, heart failure and atrial fibrillation rates were statistically higher in the mortality group (p