ELECTRON-BEAM TOMOGRAPHY IN CORONARY HEAR T-DISEASE - PREVALENCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF CALCIFICATION AND RELATIONSHIP TO CORONARY RISK-FACTORS IN 650 PATIENTS

Objective: The extent of coronary calcification demonstrated by electr on beam tomography was correlated with the individual cardiac risk pro file. Patients and methods: The possible presence of coronary calcific ations was studied by electron beam tomography (EBT) in 650 patients ( 526 men, 124 women; mean age 54 +/- 10 [28-81] years) with known or su spected coronary heart disease. Depending on the degree of density and the size of the lesion a score was calculated according to an interna tional standard. Results: No calcification was shown to be present in 202 patients (score of 0). A score of more than 0 was calculated in 73 .8% of men and 48.4% of women. The average score was 227.8 +/- 24.8 in men, compared with 65.3 +/- 26.5 in women (P < 0.001). There were sig nificantly more calcifications in older patients: Men aged 71-75 years had the highest score, 859.4, while the lowest, 9.6, was in those age d 36 to 40 years. The most important variables for the presence of cal cification were age (relative risk per age group: 1.6), male sex (rela tive risk: 4.3), hypertension (relative risk: 2.4) and nicotine consum ption (relative risk: 1.8). The median point score in patients without known risk factors was 1.3, with one known factor it was 7.2, and wit h three it was 48.0. The vessel segment most affected with calcificati on was the anterior interventricular branch with an average score of 8 4. Conclusion: Together with an evaluation of the risk profile EBT pro vided a better assessment of individual risk than conventional examina tion.