Age and sex distribution of subclinical aortic atherosclerosis: a magnetic resonance imaging examination of the Framingham Heart Study.
Autopsy data demonstrate a correlation between subclinical aortic atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, noninvasive cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) of subclinical atherosclerosis may provide a novel measure of cardiovascular risk, but it has not been applied to an asymptomatic population-based cohort to establish age- and sex-specific normative data. Participants in the Framingham Heart Study offspring cohort who were free of clinically apparent coronary disease were randomly sampled from strata of sex, quartiles of age, and quintiles of Framingham Coronary Risk Score. Subjects (n=318, aged 60+/-9 years, range 36 to 78 years, 51% women) underwent ECG-gated T2-weighted black-blood thoracoabdominal aortic CMR scanning. CMR evidence of aortic atherosclerosis was noted in 38% of the women and 41% of the men. Plaque prevalence and all measures of plaque burden increased with age group and were greater in the abdomen than in the thorax for both sexes and across all age groups. In addition, the Framingham Coronary Risk Score was significantly correlated with all plaque prevalence and burden measures for women but only for men after age adjustment. These noninvasive CMR data extend the prior autopsy-based prevalence estimates of subclinical atherosclerosis and may help to lay the foundation for future studies of risk stratification and treatment of affected individuals.
Jaffer
Farouc A
FA
Harvard-Thorndike Laboratory of the Department of Medicine, Cardiovascular Division, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass 02215, USA.
O'Donnell
Christopher J
CJ
Larson
Martin G
MG
Chan
Stephen K
SK
Kissinger
Kraig V
KV
Kupka
Michelle J
MJ
Salton
Carol
C
Botnar
Rene M
RM
Levy
Daniel
D
Manning
Warren J
WJ
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002319:Cardiovascular System / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D017678:Sex Distribution