American Journal of Cardiology
Volume 92, Issue 5 , Pages 498-503, 1 September 2003

Comparison of coronary artery calcium detected by electron beam tomography in patients with to those without symptomatic coronary heart disease☆

  • Yiling J. Cheng, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • The Cooper Institute, Dallas, Texas, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress for reprints: Yiling J. Cheng, MD, PhD, CDC, 2858 Wood Cook Blvd, Bavieson Bldg, Mail Stop K10, Atlanta, Georgia 38041, USA.
    • ,
  • Timothy S. Church, MD, MPH, PhD

      Affiliations

    • The Cooper Institute, Dallas, Texas, USA
    • ,
  • Thomas E. Kimball, MD

      Affiliations

    • The Cooper Clinic, Dallas, Texas, USA
    • ,
  • Milton Z. Nichaman, MD, SCD

      Affiliations

    • The Cooper Institute, Dallas, Texas, USA
    • ,
  • Benjamin D. Levine, MD

      Affiliations

    • Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine, Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA
    • The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USAand the Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia.
    • ,
  • Darren K. McGuire, MD, MHSc

      Affiliations

    • The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USAand the Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia.
    • ,
  • Steven N. Blair, PED

      Affiliations

    • The Cooper Institute, Dallas, Texas, USA

Received 22 January 2003; received in revised form 19 May 2003; accepted 19 May 2003.

Abstract 

Although the presence of coronary artery calcium (CAC) has been associated with the prevalence and incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD), it is unclear if this association has a threshold or a continuous relation. The aim of this research was to explore the relation between CAC, as detected by electron beam tomography (EBT), and CHD in a cross-sectional study of women and men who presented to a single center for elective screening with EBT from 1995 to 1998. Of 17,967 participants, patients with CHD had higher CAC levels than those without CHD. Using subjects without CAC as the referent group, the odds ratios for prevalent CHD increased significantly across increasing quartiles of CAC in the overall population and in both genders. In a subset of the population, after adjusting for CHD risk factors, CAC scores in the fourth quartile were associated with an odds ratio of 33.8 (p <0.001) for prevalent CHD. Among patients with and without CHD, men were more likely than women to have detectable CAC (58.1% vs 28.3% and 96.1% vs 68.9% respectively, p <0.001 for each); the prevalence of detectable CAC increased with age and was higher in men than in women. There was an increased risk for prevalent CHD at all levels of CAC >0, with the greatest increase in risk occurring in patients with CAC scores >95. These observations support the potential of EBT as a sensitive test for detection of CHD.

No full text is available. To read the body of this article, please view the PDF online.

To access this article, please choose from the options below

Login to an existing account or Register a new account.

  • Purchase this article for 31.50 USD (You must login/register to purchase this article)

    Online access for 24 hours. The PDF version can be downloaded as your permanent record.

  • Subscribe to this title

    Get unlimited online access to this article and all other articles in this title 24/7 for one year.

  • Claim access now

    For current subscribers with Society Membership or Account Number.

  • Visit SciVerse ScienceDirect to see if you have access via your institution.
 

☆ This research was supported in part by U.S. Public Health Service research grants R01HL62508 and R01AG06945 from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, and by contributions from several individuals.

PII: S0002-9149(03)00714-8

doi:10.1016/S0002-9149(03)00714-8

American Journal of Cardiology
Volume 92, Issue 5 , Pages 498-503, 1 September 2003

Article Tools