title: Association of metabolic syndrome with coronary atherosclerosis in non-diabetic postmenopausal women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated the possible association of metabolic syndrome with arterial stiffness and coronary atherosclerosis in non-diabetic, postmenopausal women.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 293 non-diabetic, postmenopausal women who visited the health promotion center for a routine health check-up were included in a cross-sectional study. Arterial stiffness was measured by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity, and coronary atherosclerosis was detected using 64-row multi-detector computed tomography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women with coronary atherosclerosis had a significantly higher proportion of metabolic syndrome than those without coronary atherosclerosis. The brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity was significantly higher in women who had metabolic syndrome compared to those who had no metabolic syndrome (1567.71 ± 211.81 vs. 1336.75 ± 159.62 cm/s, p < 0.001). In addition, the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity was shown to increase with increasing number of metabolic syndrome components (p for trend < 0.001). Metabolic syndrome was associated with increased risk of coronary atherosclerosis (adjusted odds ratio 2.38; 95% confidence interval 1.01-5.06), after adjusting for confounding factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of coronary atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women. Increased arterial stiffness may partly explain an increased risk of coronary atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women with metabolic syndrome.
authors.affiliation: * Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine , Seoul , Korea.
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Chon
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Seo
mesh_terms: D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001916:Brachial Artery; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005215:Fasting; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D059289:Vascular Stiffness
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D014280:Triglycerides
keywords: ARTERIAL STIFFNESS; CORONARY ATHEROSCLEROSIS; METABOLIC SYNDROME; POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN