Prevalence of aortic mineralization in slaughtered bovine from the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

This study describes the prevalence of aortic mineralization in slaughtered bovine in the state of Minas Gerais. Fragments of thoracic aorta from 783 animals from different origin, breed, gender and age were evaluated macroscopically. All lesions were characterized and divided in, grade I, grade 11, grade III and grade IV, depending on the severity of the lesions. A total of 298 (38.1%) aortas had lesions, as follow: 180 grade 1 (23.0%), 59 grade H (7.5%), 35 grade 111 (4.5%) and 24 grade IV (3.1%). Differences concerning age, breed and sex were observed. Females and castrated males (54.6% and 50.7%, P<0.00001 and P<0.0001, respective v) compared to intact males, zebu-crossbred and mixed bred (59.3% and 47.8%, P<0.02 and P<0.05, respectively) compared to pure zebu (37.4%) and animals older then 3 years (59.4%, P<0.0001) compared to animals 2-3 years or under 2 years of age (21.7% and 13.9%, respectively) were more frequently affected by aortic mineralization.