title: Dyslipidemia, coronary artery calcium, and incident atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: implications for statin therapy from the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Worldwide clinical practice guidelines for dyslipidemia emphasize allocating statin therapy to those at the highest absolute atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We examined 5534 Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) participants who were not on baseline medications for dyslipidemia. Participants were classified by baseline coronary artery calcium (CAC) score (>0, ≥ 100) and the common clinical scheme of counting lipid abnormalities (LA), including low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ≥ 3.36 mmol/L (130 mg/dL), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol <1.03 mmol/L (40 mg/dL) for men or <1.29 mmol/L (50 mg/dL) for women, and triglycerides ≥ 1.69 mmol/L (150 mg/dL). Our main outcome measure was incident CVD (myocardial infarction, angina resulting in revascularization, resuscitated cardiac arrest, stroke, cardiovascular death). Over a median follow-up of 7.6 years, more than half of events (55%) occurred in the 21% of participants with CAC ≥ 100. Conversely, 65% of events occurred in participants with 0 or 1 LA. In those with CAC ≥ 100, CVD rates ranged from 22.7 to 29.5 per 1000 person-years across LA categories. In contrast, with CAC=0, CVD rates ranged from 2.7 to 5.9 per 1000 person-years across LA categories. Individuals with 0 LA and CAC ≥ 100 had a higher event rate compared with individuals with 3 LA but CAC=0 (22.7 versus 5.9 per 1000 person-years). Similar results were obtained when we classified LA using data set quartiles of total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or low-density lipoprotein particle concentration and guideline categories of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol or non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CAC may have the potential to help match statin therapy to absolute CVD risk. Across the spectrum of dyslipidemia, event rates similar to secondary prevention populations were observed for patients with CAC ≥ 100.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease, Baltimore, MD (S.S.M., M.J.B., P.O., S.R.J., R.S.B., K.N.); Noninvasive Cardiovascular Imaging Program, Department of Medicine (Cardiovascular Division) and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA (R.B.); South Beach Preventive Cardiology Center, University of Miami, Miami, FL (A.A.); Columbia University Division of Cardiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, FL (J.J.R.); Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX (S.S.V.); Division of Cardiology, Harbor-University of California Los Angeles Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA (M.J.B.); Center for Prevention and Wellness Research, Baptist Health Medical Group, Miami, FL (K.N.); Baptist Cardiovascular Institute, Baptist Health South Florida, Miami, FL (K.N.); Department of Epidemiology, Robert Stempel College of Public Health, Florida International University, Miami, FL (K.N.); and Department of Medicine, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Miami, FL (K.N.).
authors.forename: Seth S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Blaha
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Blankstein
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agatston
authors.forename: Juan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Rivera
authors.forename: Salim S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Virani
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ouyang
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Roger S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Blumenthal
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Budoff
authors.forename: Khurram
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nasir
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D014280:Triglycerides
keywords: atherosclerosis; cardiovascular diseases; cholesterol; computed tomography