Key result
Traditional risk factors link to elevated CAC, with age increasing odds ~250% per decade.
Why the study?
The association of coronary artery calcification with traditional and nontraditional cardiovascular risk factors was not fully established.
Are traditional and nontraditional cardiovascular risk factors associated with coronary artery calcification in individuals free of known coronary artery disease?
Cohort (n=360)
Yes
Are traditional and nontraditional cardiovascular risk factors associated with coronary artery calcification in individuals free of known coronary artery disease?
Odds Ratio: 3.5
Traditional cardiovascular risk factors, but not nontraditional hemostatic or inflammatory markers, are strongly associated with the development of coronary artery calcification.
Supports traditional risk factor focus for CAC stratification; leaves open nontraditional markers' role in prospective cohorts.
Coronary artery calcification assessed by computed tomography is an emerging marker of coronary atherosclerosis. The authors examined the association of coronary calcium scores with traditional and nontraditional cardiovascular risk factors. In 1999-2000, they measured coronary artery calcium in 360 participants free of known coronary artery disease who had participated in 2 centers of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. They related coronary calcium scores to risk factors measured in 1987-1989. Most traditional risk factors were associated with the coronary calcium score. For example, the multivariately adjusted odds ratio for an elevated score (> or = 100 versus < 100) was 3.5-fold greater per 10 years of age, 3.2-fold greater in men than in women, 3.1-fold greater with diabetes (statistically nonsignificant), and 1.4- to 1.7-fold greater per standard deviation greater increments of plasma cholesterol and pack-years of cigarettes smoked. Carotid artery intima-media thickness also was positively associated with coronary calcification. In contrast, a wide variety of hemostatic and inflammatory markers and serum chemistry values were unrelated to calcium scores. These findings reaffirmed the established role of traditional risk factors in the etiology of coronary artery disease, as assessed by computed tomography, but did not identify any important nontraditional risk factors.
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Folsom et al. (2004) conducted a cohort in Free of known coronary artery disease (n=360). Traditional cardiovascular risk factors vs. Absence or lower levels of risk factors was evaluated on Elevated coronary calcium score (≥100 vs <100) (OR 3.5). Traditional cardiovascular risk factors, including age (OR 3.5 per 10 years) and male sex (OR 3.2), were associated with elevated coronary calcification, while nontraditional markers were unrelated.
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