Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2003 Jun;89(6):625-8.
doi: 10.1136/heart.89.6.625.

Coronary calcifications in young patients with first, unheralded myocardial infarction: a risk factor matched analysis by electron beam tomography

K Pohle  1 , D Ropers, R Mäffert, P Geitner, W Moshage, M Regenfus, M Kusus, W G Daniel, S Achenbach
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Coronary calcifications in young patients with first, unheralded myocardial infarction: a risk factor matched analysis by electron beam tomography

K Pohle et al. Heart. 2003 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: To compare the presence and extent of coronary calcifications in young patients with first, unheralded acute myocardial infarction with matched controls without a history of coronary artery disease.

Methods: In 102 patients under 60 years of age (19-59 years, mean 41 years; 88% male), electron beam tomography was done 1-14 days after acute myocardial infarction, before any coronary intervention. Coronary calcifications were quantified using the Agatston score. Age related calcium centiles were determined based on the Mayo Clinic "epidemiology of coronary calcification" study, and results were compared with a group of 102 controls without coronary artery disease, matched for sex, age, and risk factors.

Results: Calcifications were present in 95.1% of patients with acute myocardial infarction and in 59.1% of controls (p = 0.008). The mean (SD) Agatston score was 529 (901) in the infarct patients versus 119 (213) in the controls (p < 0.001). An Agatston score above the 50th centile was present in 87.2% of infarct patients and 47.0% of controls (p = 0.006), and above the 90th centile in 60.7% of infarct patients and only 5.8% of controls (p = 0.001).

Conclusions: In young patients with their first, unheralded acute myocardial infarction, the presence and extent of coronary calcium are significantly greater than in matched controls.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Box plots representing the Agatston score of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD), circumflex coronary artery (CX), and right coronary artery (RCA) of patients with myocardial infarction. The patients have been separated according to culprit vessel.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Panels A–C: Cross sections of the heart of a 28 year old male patient after an acute anterior myocardial infarct, showing coronary calcifications (arrowheads) in all coronary vessels (LAD, left anterior descending coronary artery; CX, circumflex artery; RCA, right coronary artery).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Rumberger JA, Sheedy PF, Breen JF, et al. Electron beam tomography and coronary artery disease: scanning for coronary artery calcification. Mayo Clin Proc 1996;71:369–77. - PubMed
    1. Blankenhorn DH. Coronary artery calcification. Am J Med 1961;31:41–9.
    1. McCarthy JH, Palmer FJ. Incidence and significance of coronary artery calcification. Br Heart J 1974;36:499–506. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Eggen DA, Strong JP, McGill HC. Coronary calcification: relationship to clinically significant coronary lesions and race, sex and topographic distribution. Circulation 1965;32:948–55. - PubMed
    1. Rumberger JA, Simons DB, Fitzpatrick LA, et al. Coronary artery calcium area by electron beam computed tomography and coronary atherosclerotic plaque area. A histopathologic correlative study. Circulation 1995;92:2157–62. - PubMed

Publication types