title: Prevalence of non-calcified coronary plaque on 64-slice computed tomography in asymptomatic patients with zero and low coronary artery calcium.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the prevalence of noncalcified plaque in asymptomatic low-risk patients with no or mild coronary artery calcium (CAC).
  
  
  METHODS
  From 502 patients with coronary risk factors who underwent 64-slice computed tomography, 224 asymptomatic patients were identified with no CAC (n=117) or mild CAC (n=107; defined as patients with Agatston scores from 1 to 100).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with no CAC were younger and had diabetes less often. Medications and laboratory data were not significantly different between the two groups. The prevalence of noncalcified plaque was 11.1% in patients with no CAC and 23.4% in the mild CAC group (P=0.0142). Multiple plaques were detected in 2.6% of the group with no CAC and 3.7% of the group with mild CAC (P=0.5934). Significant coronary artery stenosis was found in one patient in the group with no CAC (0.9%) and three patients in the group with mild CAC (2.8%, P=0.3506).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Significant percentages of noncalcified plaque were found in asymptomatic low-risk patients with no or mild coronary calcium.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Okayama Central Hospital, Okayama, Japan. kiwasaki@kyokuto.or.jp
authors.forename: Kohichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aono
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Furukawa
authors.forename: Masanobu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Samukawa
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium