Prevalence of echocardiographic findings in 554 men and in 1,243 women aged > 60 years in a long-term health care facility.

The prevalence of mitral regurgitation, valvular aortic stenosis, aortic regurgitation, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, and of left ventricular hypertrophy was not significantly different in older men and women. Older women had a significantly higher prevalence of rheumatic mitral stenosis, mitral annular calcium, and left atrial enlargement than older men, and older men had a significantly higher prevalence of abnormal left ventricular ejection fraction than older women.