title: The interdependence between cardiovascular calcifications in different arterial beds and vascular risk factors in patients at high cardiovascular risk.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective was to explore the interdependence between cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular calcifications on the cardiac valves and in multiple vascular beds in the chest and abdomen in a high-risk population.
  
  
  METHODS
  276 participants of the SMART study who received a CT scan of the chest and abdominal region within one year were evaluated for the presence of cardiovascular calcifications throughout the body. Cardiovascular calcifications were manually scored in the coronary arteries, the aorta, the supra aortic vessels, the infra aortic vessels, the aortic valve, the renal arteries and the splenic artery. The following clinical risk factors of cardiovascular disease were included in principal component analysis, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, glucose, total cholesterol and carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) as a marker of atherosclerosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Principal component analysis yielded three uncorrelated components. The first consisted of cardiovascular calcifications and cIMT (variance = 35.4%), the second contained BMI and glucose (variance = 11.1%), and the third component consisted of systolic blood pressure and cholesterol (variance = 9.0%). Combined these three components explained 56% of the total variance within the dataset. Strong associations were observed among vascular calcifications and cIMT, whereas the association between clinical risk factors and cardiovascular calcifications was weak.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest a single systemic nature of cardiovascular calcifications throughout the body that do not cluster with traditional cardiovascular risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: rtakx@umcutrecht.nl.
authors.forename: Richard A P
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Takx
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zanen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Leiner
authors.affiliation: Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: van der Graaf
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Pim A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: de Jong
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001011:Aorta / Q000473:pathology; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D001158:Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: Cardiovascular calcification; Clinical risk factors; Computed tomography; Principal component analysis