The Correlation Between Obesity and Aortic Stenosis in Patients Who Underwent Surgical Intervention

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Authors
Chaudhary, Ansh
Issue Date
2017
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
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Abstract
Scientists and physicians are always looking for ways to improve the health of patients, especially when it comes to people's lifestyles. Obesity has become an increasingly prevalent metabolic disorder in the US over time; it has also been linked to various negative health outcomes, especially cardiovascular issues. Aortic stenosis (AS) is a disease of the aortic valve, in which the blood flow from the left ventricle to the aorta is obstructed. Examining the potential association between obesity and AS could help scientists develop drug therapies and educate patients on risk factors. This study investigated the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) for inpatient records from 2012 and 2013, in order to find a correlation between body mass index (BMI) and the incidence of encountering a diagnosis for AS. At this point, AS is only treatable with surgical intervention, and there are two possible procedures: surgical aortic-valve replacement (SAVR) and trans catheter aortic-valve replacement (TAVR). The prevalence of AS was found for the BMI ranges by finding patient records of SAVR and TAVR. Both procedures were analyzed separately. Results indicated a positive regression in general between increasing BMI and AS prevalence, under both procedures, but not a statistically significant linear regression. There was also a significant increase in prevalence of AS, under both procedures, for obese patients compared to non-obese patients. Given the lack of drug therapies for AS, finding how obesity causes changes to the aortic valve can lead to effective medications which resist the progression of the disease.
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iv, 21 p.
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Kalamazoo College
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U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
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