Prevalence of Coronary Artery Ectasia and Associated Risk Factors

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of coronary artery ectasia (CAE) and its associated factors in the East of Iran. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 2,795 patients undergoing coronary angiography between 2011 and 2017. Patients were categorized into three groups: Coronary artery ectasia, normal coronary artery, and coronary artery stenosis. Patients' demographic data, cardiac risk factors, and angiographic results were extracted from medical records. Then, information on CAE patients was evaluated. Data were analyzed by the independent t-test, Mann-Whitney test, and chi-square test. Statistical significance was defined by a P-value ≤ 0.05. Results: The prevalence of CAE was 3.04%. The mean age of CAE patients (59.44 ± 10.15) was significantly higher than that of normal coronary artery patients (53.98 ± 9.97). The proportion of men was significantly lower in the CAE group (48.2%) than in the CAS group (62.1%) but higher than in the normal group (32.3). Body mass index (BMI) and low HDL (high-density lipoprotein) were higher in the CAE group, but diabetes mellitus was lower than in the CAS group. Conclusions: The prevalence of CAE was low in our study. Old age, male sex, obesity, and low HDL were CAE risk factors, but diabetes mellitus was a preventing factor in our study.