title: Association between the ankle-brachial index and future coronary calcium (the Rancho Bernardo study).
abstract: This study investigated whether the ankle-brachial index (ABI) is associated with coronary artery calcium (CAC) in a cohort of men and women who were free of clinical coronary heart disease. CAC was assessed by electron beam computed tomography in 279 community-based subjects who also had ABI measurements 7 years previously. Patients' mean age was 65.8 years and 51.3% were women. Thirty-three patients (11.8%) had an ABI < 1.0, 11 (3.9%) had an ABI < 0.9, and 4 (1.4%) had an ABI < 0.8. Prevalences of any CAC were 70% for women and 95% for men. In men and women, there was a U-shaped relation between CAC and ABI category, with the lowest CAC score being in the interval from 1.0 to 1.09. On multivariable analysis, women whose ABI was < 1.0 had a 2.7-fold higher risk (p = 0.03) for increasing amounts of CAC. Men whose ABI was below this same cutpoint had a similar but nonsignificant increase in risk (odds ratio 2.1, p = 0.1). In conclusion, ABI was significantly associated with the presence and extent of future CAC measured 7 years later.
authors.affiliation: The Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA. mallison@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Matthew A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Allison
authors.forename: Gail A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Laughlin
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barrett-Connor
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Langer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis; D002118:Calcium / Q000032:analysis*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012039:Regional Blood Flow
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium