SYNTAX Score II predicts carotid disease in a multivessel coronary disease population

Syntax Score I and II for Predicting Carotid Artery Stenosis in Patients with Multivessel Coronary Artery Disease: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis

Objective

To evaluate the predictive accuracy of SYNTAX score (SS) I and II for detecting significant carotid artery stenosis (CAS) in patients with multivessel coronary artery disease undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery.

Methods

The study population consisted of 416 patients. Clinical, demographic, and radiological records were retrospectively reviewed. Characteristics of patients with CAS (n=66) and patients without CAS (n=350) were compared before and after propensity score matching analysis.

Results

Patients with significant CAS were older compared to those without significant CAS [(60 (53-65) vs. 63 (59-67); P=0.01]. However, atherosclerotic risk factors and SS I were similar between groups. SS II CABG and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were significantly higher in patients with CAS [37.4 (30.9-43.5) vs. 33.8 (29.9-38.9); P=0.02]. After propensity score matching analysis (66 vs. 66), age, SS II PCI and CABG were significantly higher in patients with CAS than those without CAS [37.4 (30.9-43.5) vs. 33 (29.3-36.9); P=0.03]. Age, SS II PCI and CABG were associated with CAS in logistic regression analysis [OR=1.086, 95% CI (1.032-1.143), P<0.001; OR=1.054, 95% CI (1.010-1.101), P=0.02; OR=1.078, 95% CI (1.029-1.129), P<0.01].

In ROC curve analysis, SS II PCI >33.1 had 68.2% sensitivity and 54.6% specificity [AUC=0.624, P=0.01, 95% CI (0.536-0.707)] whereas SS II CABG >26.1 had 81.8% sensitivity and 54.6% specificity [AUC=0.670, P<0.01, 95% CI (0.583-0.749)] to predict CAS. Pairwise comparison of ROC curves revealed similar statistical accuracy for prediction of CAS (z statistic: 0.683, P=0.49)

Conclusion

SS II is useful to predict asymptomatic CAS in patients with multivessel coronary artery disease.

The Association Between SYNTAX Score II and Carotid Artery Disease Severity in Patients Who Underwent Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

The SYNTAX score (SS) and SS II, which include additional clinical parameters, are widely used today for deciding revascularization following coronary angiography. We investigated the association between the presence and severity of carotid artery disease (CrAD) using the SS and SS II in 287 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting. We based this investigation on the known association between coronary artery disease and CrAD. A significant association was observed between the groups with and without CrAD in terms of SS II values (28.4 ± 9.6 vs 21.4 ± 7.7, respectively; P < .001). A significant difference was also observed when stenosis was classified according to severity as <50%, 50% to 70%, and >70% ( P < .001). The results indicated a positive correlation between the presence and severity of CrAD as SS II increased ( r = 0.187, P = .005). According to the results of multivariate logistic regression analysis, the SS II was an independent predictor of CrAD.

The association of the Syntax score II with carotid intima media thickness and epicardial fat tissue

AIM

Syntax score II (SSII) is a highly predictive scoring system, which is used to improve individualized assessment of patients with complex coronary artery disease and facilitates clinical decision making. Surrogate markers [carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), epicardial fat tissue (EFT)] are also used for risk assessment, but their relation with SSII is not well established.

METHOD

We enrolled 543 consecutive patients, who underwent coronary angiography for stable angina pectoris and acute coronary syndrome, in the study. SSII was calculated for each patient and the patients were divided into two groups as low SSII group and high SSII group according to their median SSII.

RESULTS

The average age of the patients was 61.4 years and 75% of the patients were male. The multivariate analysis indicated that only EFT (p: 0,035), CIMT (p:0,04) and Hypertension (HT) (p: 0,014) were independently associated with high SSII.

DISCUSSION

EFT and CIMT, the surrogate markers which can be simply and non-invasively determined, are of the independent predictors of high SSII. The inclusion of these parameters in the risk classification may provide additional clinical benefit.