Broyd CJ, et al. - In a cohort of patients who had undergone balloon aortic valvuloplasty for severe aortic stenosis (AS) and CT-quantified aortic valve calcium (AVC) between July 2011 and April 2014, researchers investigated whether the quantity of calcium seen at CT would have an impact on outcome. Pre- and post-procedure echocardiography was performed on all patients, and repeated at 6 months for those managed medically. They found a larger increase in valve area following valvuloplasty in patients with a non-severe AVC (< 1,853.5 AU) vs those with more calcium. Overall, the degree of AVC had an impact on the success of valvuloplasty in patients with severe AS.