Dataset Information

Predictors of coronary artery calcium among 20-30-year-olds: The Coronary Artery Calcium Consortium.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

We sought to understand the risk factor correlates of very early coronary artery calcium (CAC), and the potential investigational value of CAC phenotyping in adults aged 20-30 years.

Methods

We studied all participants aged 20-30 years at baseline (N = 373) in the Coronary Artery Calcium Consortium, a large multi-center cohort study of patients aged 18 years or older without known atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) at baseline, referred for CAC scoring for clinical risk stratification. We described the prevalence of CAC in men and women, the frequency of risk factors by the presence of CAC (CAC = 0 vs CAC >0), and assessed the association between traditional non-demographic CVD risk factors (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking, family history of CHD, and diabetes) and prevalent CAC, using age- and sex-adjusted logistic regression models.

Results

The mean age of the study participants was 27.5 ± 2.4 years; 324 (86.9%) had CAC = 0, and 49 (13.1%) had CAC >0. Among the 49 participants with CAC, 38 (77.6%) were men, and median CAC score was low at 4.6. In age- and sex-adjusted models, there was a graded increase in the odds of CAC >0 with increasing traditional cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor burden (p = 0.001 for linear trend). Participants with ≥3 traditional risk factors had a statistically significant higher odds of having prevalent CAC (OR 5.57, 95% CI; 1.82-17.03) compared to participants with no risk factors.

Conclusions

Our study demonstrates the non-negligible prevalence of CAC among very high-risk young US adults, reinforcing the critical importance of traditional risk factors in the earliest development of detectable subclinical ASCVD.

SUBMITTER: Osei AD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7260100 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:ObjectivesThis study compared risk discrimination for the prediction of coronary heart disease (CHD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths for the Pooled Cohort Equations (PCE), the MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis) Risk Score (with and without coronary artery calcium [CAC]), and of simple addition of CAC to the PCE.BackgroundThe PCE predict 10-year risk of atherosclerotic CVD events, and the MESA Risk Score predicts risk of CHD. Their comparative performance for the prediction of fatal events is poorly understood.MethodsWe evaluated 53,487 patients ages 45 to 79 years from the CAC Consortium, a retrospective cohort study of asymptomatic individuals referred for clinical CAC scoring. Risk discrimination was measured using C-statistics.ResultsMean age was 57 years, 35% were women, and 39% had CAC of 0. There were 421 CHD and 775 CVD deaths over a mean 12-year follow-up. In the overall study population, discrimination with the MESA Risk Score with CAC and the PCE was almost identical for both outcomes (C-statistics: 0.80 and 0.79 for CHD death, 0.77 and 0.78 for CVD death, respectively). Addition of CAC to the PCE improved risk discrimination, yielding the largest C-statistics. The MESA Risk Score with CAC and the PCE plus CAC showed the best discrimination among the 45% of patients with 5% to 20% estimated risk. Secondary analyses by estimated CVD risk strata showed modestly improved risk discrimination with CAC also among low- and high-estimated risk groups.ConclusionsOur findings support the current guideline recommendation to use, among available risk scores, the PCE for initial risk assessment and to use CAC for further risk assessment in a broad borderline and intermediate risk group. Also, in select individuals at low or high estimated risk, CAC modestly improved discrimination. Studies in unselected populations will lead to further understanding of the potential value of tools combining risk scores and CAC for optimal risk assessment.

Project description:BackgroundAlthough coronary artery calcium (CAC) has been investigated for over two decades, there is very limited data on the association of CAC with cause of death. The CAC Consortium is a large ongoing multi-center observational cohort of individuals who underwent non-contrast cardiac-gated CAC testing and systematic, prospective, long-term follow-up for mortality with ascertainment of cause of death.MethodsFour participating institutions from three states within the US (California, Minnesota, and Ohio) have contributed individual-level patient data to the CAC Consortium (spanning years 1991-2010). All CAC scans were clinically indicated and physician-referred in patients without a known history of coronary heart disease. Using strict inclusion and exclusion criteria to minimize missing data and to eliminate non-dedicated CAC scans (i.e. concomitant CT angiography), a sharply defined and well-characterized cohort of 66,636 patients was assembled. Mortality status was ascertained using the Social Security Administration Death Master File and a validated algorithm. In addition, death certificates were obtained from the National Death Index and categorized using ICD (International Classification of Diseases) codes into common causes of death.ResultsMean patient age was 54 ± 11 years and the majority were male (67%). Prevalence of CVD risk factors was similar across sites and 55% had a <5% estimated 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk. Approximately 45% had a Calcium score of 0 and 11% had an Agatston Score ≥400. Over a mean follow-up of 12 ± 4 years, there were 3158 deaths (4.15 per 1000 person-years). The majority of deaths were due to cancer (37%) and CVD (32%). Most CVD deaths were due to CHD (54%) followed by stroke (17%). In general, CAC score distributions were similar across sites, and there were similar cause of death patterns.ConclusionsThe CAC Consortium is large and highly generalizable data set that is uniquely positioned to expand the understanding of CAC as a predictor of mortality risk across the spectrum of disease states, allowing innovative modeling of the competing risks of cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular death.