In a prospective study of 1,980 subjects (mean age 81 +/- 8 years) without valvular aortic stenosis, 981 (50%) had valvular aortic sclerosis diagnosed by 2-dimensional and continuous-wave Doppler echocardiography. Independent risk factors for new coronary events were prior coronary artery disease (p = 0.0001, risk ratio 2.8), male gender (p = 0.002, risk ratio 1.3), and valvular aortic sclerosis (p = 0.0001, risk ratio 1.8).