Association between cardiovascular risk profiles and the presence and extent of different types of coronary atherosclerotic plaque as detected by multidetector computed tomography.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the association between cardiovascular risk factors and extent of noncalcified- (NCAP), mixed- (MCAP), and calcified coronary atherosclerotic plaque (CAP).


RESULTS
In this cross-sectional study, we included consecutive subjects who presented with chest pain but had no history of coronary artery disease (CAD) and did not develop acute coronary syndrome. Contrast-enhanced 64-slice coronary MDCT was performed to determine the presence of NCAP, MCAP, and CAP for each coronary segment. Among 195 patients (91 women, mean age: 54.6+/-12.0) exclusively NCAP was detected in 11 patients (5.6%). The extent of NCAP decreased and the extent of MCAP and CAP increased with age (P=0.06, P=0.02, and P=0.13, respectively). Hyperlipidemia and family history of CAD were associated with the extent of NCAP after adjusting for other risk factors (P=0.02 and P=0.04, respectively) or for the extent of MCAP and CAP (P=0.02 and P=0.05, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that only a small proportion of individuals have exclusively NCAP and indicate that the relation of NCAP and CAP changes with age. Among individual risk factors, hyperlipidemia and family history of CAD may be associated with the extent of NCAP. Larger observational trials are necessary to confirm our findings.
Bamberg
Fabian
F
Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
Dannemann
Nina
N
Shapiro
Michael D
MD
Seneviratne
Sujith K
SK
Ferencik
Maros
M
Butler
Javed
J
Koenig
Wolfgang
W
Nasir
Khurram
K
Cury
Ricardo C
RC
Tawakol
Ahmed
A
Achenbach
Stephan
S
Brady
Thomas J
TJ
Hoffmann
Udo
U
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000473:pathology*; D002637:Chest Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D003287:Contrast Media; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011336:Probability; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016019:Survival Analysis; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed / Q000379:methods*
D003287:Contrast Media