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. 2020 Jan:292:224-229.
doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2019.09.014. Epub 2019 Sep 27.

Clinical significance of zero coronary artery calcium in individuals with LDL cholesterol ≥190 mg/dL: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Pratik B Sandesara  1 , Anurag Mehta  2 , Wesley T O'Neal  2 , Heval M Kelli  2 , Vasanth Sathiyakumar  3 , Seth S Martin  3 , Michael J Blaha  3 , Roger S Blumenthal  3 , Laurence S Sperling  4
Affiliations

Clinical significance of zero coronary artery calcium in individuals with LDL cholesterol ≥190 mg/dL: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Pratik B Sandesara et al. Atherosclerosis. 2020 Jan.

Abstract

Background and aims: Individuals with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) ≥190 mg/dL are considered high-risk and current guidelines recommend initiating high-intensity statin therapy in this group. We sought to examine the predictive ability of zero CAC in this high-risk group.

Methods: Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis participants without clinical cardiovascular disease and baseline LDL-C ≥190 mg/dL were identified. Cardiovascular risk factors were compared between those with CAC = 0 and CAC >0. Multivariable Poisson regression was used to identify predictors of CAC = 0. Association of CAC = 0 with incident cardiovascular events over a median follow-up of 13.2 years was examined using multivariable-adjusted Cox regression.

Results: 246 individuals (mean age = 63 ± 9.4 years; 42% male; 31% white; 37% CAC = 0) with LDL-C ≥190 mg/dL were identified (mean LDL-C = 215 ± 27 mg/dL). Age <65 years (RR = 2.17, 95%CI = 1.49-3.23), female sex (RR = 2.10, 95%CI = 1.42-3.10), and no diabetes (RR = 2.22, 95%CI = 1.18-4.17) were associated with CAC = 0. Individuals with CAC = 0 had a lower risk for future cardiovascular events (incidence rate per 1000 person-years = 4.7; 10-year risk = 3.7%; risk/year = 0.4%) than those with CAC >0 (incidence rate per 1000 person-years = 26.4; 10-year risk = 20%; risk/year = 2.0%), adjusted HR 0.25 (95%CI = 0.10-0.66).

Conclusions: Among persons with LDL-C ≥190 mg/dL, younger age, female sex, and the absence of diabetes were associated with CAC = 0. CAC = 0 was associated with a low risk of cardiovascular events, suggesting the utility of CAC assessment for stratifying risk in this high-risk group.

Keywords: Cholesterol; Coronary calcium; Outcomes; Risk factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declared they do not have anything to disclose regarding conflict of interest with respect to this manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cumulative incidence of cardiovascular disease events associated with CAC score 0, 1–100, and >100. Cumulative incidence estimates are statistically different (log-rank p<0.001). CAC=coronary artery calcium.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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