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
. 2007 Oct;45(4):302-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2007.07.002. Epub 2007 Jul 14.

Premenopausal risk factors for coronary and aortic calcification: a 20-year follow-up in the healthy women study

Karen A Matthews  1 , Lewis H Kuller, Yuefang Chang, Daniel Edmundowicz
Affiliations

Premenopausal risk factors for coronary and aortic calcification: a 20-year follow-up in the healthy women study

Karen A Matthews et al. Prev Med. 2007 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: It is important to understand the early development of subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women to prevent costly morbidity and mortality associated with CVD events.

Methods: 363 Women enrolled in the Healthy Women Study, Allegheny County, PA, had electron beam tomography measures of coronary (CaC) and aortic (AC) calcification on average 14.6 years after study entry in 1983; 267 had a second EBT 6.4 years later, by 2006. Risk factors were assessed when women were premenopausal and 5 years after the menopause.

Results: Step-wise logistic regression analyses showed that the independent premenopausal predictors of CaC > or = 100 14.6 years later were low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, OR=1.15 (1.03-1.29 for 10 mg/dl) and current smoker, OR=2.72, 1.29-5.71. The same premenopausal risk factors were predictors of AC > or = 500, in addition to premenopausal systolic blood pressure (SBP). Similar results were obtained for predicting calcification 20.6 years later. Postmenopausal risk factors measured 5 years prior to the initial scans were unrelated to CaC and AC, after the significant premenopausal risk factors were taken into account, except for postmenopausal SBP being related to AC.

Conclusion: Premenopausal risk factors are strong predictors of postmenopausal CaC and AC. Clinical trials should test if reduction of premenopausal levels of risk factors reduces the risk of early calcification.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Agatston AS, Janowitz WR, Hildner FJ, Zusmer NR, Viamonte M, Jr, Detrano R. Quantification of coronary artery calcium using ultrafast computed tomography. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1990;15:827–832. - PubMed
    1. Agatston AS, Janowitz WR, Kaplan GS, Lee D, Prashad R, Viamonte M, Lamas GA. Electron beam CT predicts future coronary events. Circulation. 1996;94(suppl I):I–360. Abstract.
    1. Allain CC, Poon LS, Chan CSG, Richmond W, Fu PC. Enzymatic determination of total serum cholesterol. Clin Chem. 1974;20:470–475. - PubMed
    1. Arad Y, Goodman KJ, Newstein D, Guerci AD. Coronary calcification, coronary risk factors, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease events : The St. Francis Heart Study. Am J Coll Cardiol. 2005;46:158–165. - PubMed
    1. Berry C, L'Allier P, Gregoire J, Lesperance J, Levesque S, Ibrahim R, Tardif JC. Comparison of intravascular ultrasound and quantitative coronary angiography for the assessment of coronary artery disease progression. Circulation. 2007;115:1851–1857. - PubMed

Publication types