Usefulness of coronary artery calcium for detecting significant coronary artery disease in asymptomatic individuals.

OBJECTIVES: 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).

CONCLUSION: CAC quantification is an effective method for determining the extent and magnitude of CAD and delimiting the predictive capacity of traditional risk factors.