[Coronary ectasia: prevalence, and clinical and angiographic characteristics].
OBJECTIVE
Coronary ectasia is characterized by the presence of diffuse dilation of the coronary vessels and is detected in 0.3-5.3% of angiographic studies. Our objective was to evaluate the prevalence of this condition, to analyze its clinical and angiographic characteristics, and to compare patients with ectasia and patients without it.


METHODS
Coronary angiography was performed in 4.332 patients from October 1998 to June 2001. This population was divided in two groups, patients with and patients without ectasia and patients without ectasia. Angiographic and clinical variables were compared in these groups.


RESULTS
The prevalence of ectasia was 3.39%. Most patients with ectasia (77.6%) had coronary stenosis. Ectasia affected a single vessel in 49.7%, most frequently the right coronary artery (132 patients), which also showed the greatest dilation. Most patients with ectasia were men (91.2%), smokers (56.5%), and younger than patients without ectasia (60.8 11.7 vs. 63.3 10.7 years; p = 0.01). They also had a lower prevalence of diabetes (22.4%) and previous revascularization procedures (8.2% angioplasty and 1.4% surgical revascularization).Logistical regression analysis showed that only male sex was associated to the presence of ectasia (OR = 3.33; 95% CI, 1.81-6.13) and that only diabetes was independently associated with absence of ectasia (OR = 0.65; 95% CI, 0.43-0.98).


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of coronary ectasia in patients who underwent angiography was 3.4%. Coronary ectasia was prevalent in males and associated to the classic cardiovascular risk factors, except diabetes, a pathology that was less frequent than usual.
Servicio de Cardiología. Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca. Murcia. España. edupb@inves.es
Eduardo
E
Pinar Bermúdez
Ramón
R
López Palop
Iñigo
I
Lozano Martínez-Luengas
Rocío
R
Cortés Sánchez
Pilar
P
Carrillo Sáez
Raúl
R
Rodríguez Carreras
Francisco
F
Picó Aracil
Mariano
M
Valdés Chávarri
D000368:Aged; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D004108:Dilatation, Pathologic / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology