CORRELATIONS BETWEEN VASCULAR CALCIFICATION AND ATHEROSCLEROSIS - A COMPARATIVE ELECTRON-BEAM CT STUDY OF THE CORONARY AND CAROTID ARTERIES

Purpose: Electron beam CT (EBCT)-derived coronary artery calcium score s correlate with the extent of atherosclerosis, but there is a substan tial variance about the general relationship between coronary calcific ation and coronary atherosclerosis. The relationship between calcifica tion and atherosclerosis may also differ in various arteries. This stu dy was designed to evaluate whether the relation between carotid arter y intima-media thickness (IMT) and carotid artery calcium could be use d as a correction factor to improve the correlation between coronary c alcification and coronary atherosclerosis, Method: We measured atheros clerosis in the coronary and carotid arteries by angiography and ultra sonography, respectively, and quantified coronary and carotid calcium deposition with EBCT in 50 subjects. The correlation between the findi ngs in the carotid and coronary arteries was investigated. Results: Co ronary artery calcium score correlated with coronary angiography and w ith carotid calcium score. Coronary stenosis correlated with carotid I MT. There was no meaningful correlation of carotid IMT and carotid cal cium. Conclusion: There is an intraindividual variation in the relatio nship of plaque mass to calcification among different vessels. The rel ation between carotid artery calcification and carotid IMT is not pred ictive of the relation between coronary artery calcification and coron ary obstruction.