title: Usefulness of coronary artery calcium for detecting significant coronary artery disease in asymptomatic individuals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To confirm the value of the coronary artery calcium (CAC) score as an indicator of significant coronary artery disease (CAD) in the asymptomatic Spanish population, using noninvasive coronary angiography by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT).
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective study of 232 asymptomatic individuals, referred for a cardiovascular health checkup that included CAC and MDCT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants' mean age was 54.6 years (SD ± 12.8); 73.3% of them were men. The mean CAC value was 117.8 (SD ± 277). The individuals with arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking and 3 or more risk factors had significantly greater CAC scores. Some 16.4% of the participants were in the ≥75 percentile population for CAC. The MDCT identified 148 individuals (63.8%) with CAD; the coronary lesions were not significant in 116 individuals (50%) and were significant (>50% stenosis) in 32 (13.8%). The participants with diabetes, smoking and ≥3 risk vascular factors had a greater prevalence of significant stenosis. The individuals with >50% stenosis had higher CAC values (352.5 vs. 1; P<.0001), and those in the ≥75 percentile had a high percentage of significant lesions (57.9% vs. 5.2%; P<.0001). The predictors of significant CAD were a CAC score >300 (OR=10.9; 95% CI 3.35-35.8; P=.0001), belonging to the ≥75 percentile (OR=5.65; 95% CI 1.78-17.93; P=.03) and having 3 or more vascular risk factors (OR=4.19; 95% CI 1.44-12.14; P=.008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CAC quantification is an effective method for determining the extent and magnitude of CAD and delimiting the predictive capacity of traditional risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Imagen, Clínica Creu Blanca, Barcelona, España; Unidad de Imagen Cardiaca, Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, España. Electronic address: mdescalzo@gmail.com.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Descalzo
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, España.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vidal-Pérez
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Imagen, Clínica Creu Blanca, Barcelona, España; Unidad de Imagen Cardiaca, Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Leta
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Imagen, Clínica Creu Blanca, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Alomar
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Imagen, Clínica Creu Blanca, Barcelona, España; Unidad de Imagen Cardiaca, Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pons-Lladó
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Imagen, Clínica Creu Blanca, Barcelona, España; Unidad de Imagen Cardiaca, Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carreras
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D061330:Multidetector Computed Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium
keywords: Agatston coronary calcium score; Asintomático; Asymptomatic; Cardiovascular risk stratification; Coronariografía no invasiva; Enfermedad coronaria subclínica; Estratificación de riesgo cardiovascular; Multidetector computed tomography; Noninvasive coronary angiography; Score Agatston de calcio coronario; Subclinical coronary artery disease; Tomografía computarizada multidetector