P11 Assessment of coronary artery calcification in patients with bronchiectasis

Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an important co-existing condition with bronchiectasis. Coronary artery calcification (CAC) can be identified on routine chest computed tomography (CT) performed without ECG gating. The presence of CAC can serve as a predictor of prospective coronary events. There is strong correlation between the amount of CAC and soft plaque which can influence therapeutic management for patients. Aims To investigate whether assessment of CAC is related to bronchiectasis disease severity. Methods A retrospective evaluation of 165 (82 male 83 female) CT scans for patients with bronchiectasis from the BRIDGE study. The analysis conducted to determine the presence of CAC using a semi-quantitative Weston method. Consequently, assessing the correlation between bronchiectasis severity index and CAC. Results The analysis revealed a strong linear relationship between CAC and BSI scores, with the former being a significant predictor of BSI score. Multiple linear regression indicated that CAC explained about 69.4% of the variance in BSI scores, while one-way ANOVA confirmed significant differences in BSI scores across CAC categories. Conclusions These results highlight the importance of the CAC score in clinical assessment and decision-making, suggesting the need for further research to explore the complexities and potential non-linear interactions affecting BSI scoring and CV outcomes in patients with bronchiectasis.