Prevalence and Predictive Factors of Severe Coronary Lesions in Algerian Patients Undergoing Coronary Angiography

Background: The severity of coronary lesions in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) has important prognostic and therapeutic consequences. Clinical symptoms not always reflect the disease severity and this study aimed to evaluate coronary lesions in the Algerian population where these data are scarce. Methods: It was a prospective cross-sectional study conducted in consecutive patients with an age ≥20 years who underwent clinically-indicated coronary angiography in our center. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of severe coronary lesions assessed with the Gensini score. The predictive factors of severity were evaluated in a multivariate analysis. Results: A total of 507 patients were included (male, 79.7%; mean age, 58.8 years). Coronary angiography was prescribed most frequently for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STMI) (46.9%) and non-STMI (38.1%). The prevalence of severe coronary lesions was 69.6% (95% CI 65.5 - 73.5). In multivariate analysis, the independent predictive factors of severe coronary lesions were male sex (odds ratio [OR] 2.00; p = 0.0141), diabetes (OR 1.92; p = 0.0070), left ventricular dysfunction (OR 1.81; p = 0.0059), age (OR 1.72; p = 0.0297) and no lipid-lowering treatment (OR, 0.47; p = 0.0388). Conclusions: Severe coronary lesions were present in two out three patients in this cohort of Algerian patients undergoing coronary angiography. Independent predictive factors of severe coronary lesions were male sex, diabetes, age, left ventricular dysfunction and no lipid-lowering treatment. It is important to identify these at-risk patients, as they should be explored at an asymptomatic stage before a cardiovascular event and receive prompt treatment with angioplasty or surgery.