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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2008;28:568.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.

Clinical and Population Studies

Association Between Cardiovascular Risk Profiles and the Presence and Extent of Different Types of Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaque as Detected by Multidetector Computed Tomography

Fabian Bamberg; Nina Dannemann; Michael D. Shapiro; Sujith K. Seneviratne; Maros Ferencik; Javed Butler; Wolfgang Koenig; Khurram Nasir; Ricardo C. Cury; Ahmed Tawakol; Stephan Achenbach; Thomas J. Brady; Udo Hoffmann

From the Cardiac MR PET CT Program (F.B., N.D., M.D.S., S.K.S., M.F., J.B., K.N., R.C.C., A.T., S.A., T.J.B., U.H.), the Department of Radiology (F.B., N.D., M.D.S., S.K.S., M.F., J.B., K.N., R.C.C., T.J.B., U.H.) and Cardiology Division (A.T.), Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass; Harvard School of Public Health (F.B., U.H.), Boston Mass; the Department of Cardiology (W.K.), University of Ulm, Germany; and the Department of Cardiology (S.A.), University of Erlangen, Germany.

Correspondence to Udo Hoffmann, MD, MPH, Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 165 Charles River Plaza Suite 400; Boston, MA 02114. E-mail uhoffmann{at}partners.org

Abstract

Objective— To assess the association between cardiovascular risk factors and extent of noncalcified- (NCAP), mixed- (MCAP), and calcified coronary atherosclerotic plaque (CAP).

Methods and Results— In this cross-sectional study, we included consecutive subjects who presented with chest pain but had no history of coronary artery disease (CAD) and did not develop acute coronary syndrome. Contrast-enhanced 64-slice coronary MDCT was performed to determine the presence of NCAP, MCAP, and CAP for each coronary segment. Among 195 patients (91 women, mean age: 54.6±12.0) exclusively NCAP was detected in 11 patients (5.6%). The extent of NCAP decreased and the extent of MCAP and CAP increased with age (P=0.06, P=0.02, and P=0.13, respectively). Hyperlipidemia and family history of CAD were associated with the extent of NCAP after adjusting for other risk factors (P=0.02 and P=0.04, respectively) or for the extent of MCAP and CAP (P=0.02 and P=0.05, respectively).

Conclusions— Our data suggest that only a small proportion of individuals have exclusively NCAP and indicate that the relation of NCAP and CAP changes with age. Among individual risk factors, hyperlipidemia and family history of CAD may be associated with the extent of NCAP. Larger observational trials are necessary to confirm our findings.

We assessed the association between cardiovascular risk factors and noncalcified- (NCAP) and calcified coronary atherosclerotic plaque (CAP). A small proportion of individuals have exclusively NCAP (6%) but the relation of NCAP and CAP changes with age. Only family history of CAD and hyperlipidemia may be associated with the extent of NCAP.

Key Words: tomography • atherosclerosis • imaging