title: Rates of progression of coronary calcium by electron beam tomography.
abstract: In this study, we sought to determine the rate of progression of atherosclerosis using coronary calcium scores derived from electron beam tomography (EBT). We studied a variety of disease states (hypertension, high cholesterol, tobacco use, diabetes mellitus) followed for 1 to 6.5 years. We evaluated 299 asymptomatic persons (227 men and 72 women) who underwent 2 consecutive EBT scans at least 12 months apart. The average change in the calcium score (Agatston method) for the entire group was 33.2 +/- 9.2%/year. The treated group (receiving statins) demonstrated an average increase in calcium scores of 15 +/- 8%/year compared with 39 +/- 12%/year for untreated patients (p <0.001). Among the 60 patients on statin monotherapy, 37% had a decrease in the calcium score from baseline to follow-up scan. The relative increase in calcium scores did not vary significantly by gender or risk factors, with the exception of statin-treated hypercholesterolemic subjects. Scores of zero on the initial scan portend a low likelihood of significant calcific deposits on repeat scanning. Only 2 of 81 participants (2%) with scores of zero at baseline had scores >10 on repeat study. In this study, statin therapy induced a 61% reduction in the rate of coronary calcium progression. This study demonstrates that EBT may be a useful tool in assessing efficacy of different interventions to retard progression of atherosclerosis, noninvasively, over relatively short time periods.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Saint John's Cardiovascular Research Center, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Research and Education Institute, Torrance, CA 90502, USA.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Budoff
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Lane
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bakhsheshi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: B O
authors.initials: BO
authors.lastname: Grassmann
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Brundage
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D002784:Cholesterol