A lower value for quantitative ultrasound at radius is an additional indicator of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease risk

BACKGROUND

The relationships between quantitative ultrasound (QUS) values, metabolic syndrome (MetS) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk are unclear. Objective The objective was to determine the relationships between QUS and MetS as well as CVD risk.

DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Shanghai, China.

PATIENTS

One-thousand four hundred and thirty-nine Chinese women and men with or without MetS were studied.

MEASUREMENTS

Speed of sound (SOS) at radius, phalanx and tibia and their relationships with MetS and Framingham's 10-year cardiovascular disease risk scores were investigated.

RESULTS

Premenopausal women with MetS had significant lower SOS at radius than those without MetS after adjusting for age, BMI and fat mass percentage (P = 0·02). The radius SOS was negatively associated with waist circumference (r = -0·109, P = 0·025), waist-to-hip ratio (r = -0·124, P = 0·01) and 2 h postprandial glucose level (r = -0·125, P = 0·012) in premenopausal women. Waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and 2 h postprandial glucose level increased with the decreasing tertiles of radius SOS after adjustment of age (P = 0·003, 0·002 and 0·008, respectively). The CVD risk increased with decreasing tertiles of radius SOS in postmenopausal women even after the adjustment of age, years since menopause, MetS components, smoking and alcohol habits (P < 0·001), but not in premenopausal women and men.

CONCLUSIONS

Lower radius SOS is associated with greater risks of MetS and CVD in premenopausal and postmenopausal women, respectively. The QUS value derived from non-weight-bearing site, such as radius, may represent an additional indicator of MetS and CVD risk in women.

Coronary artery calcification progression in asymptomatic individuals with initial score of zero

The aim of this study is to determine the progression of coronary artery calcification (CAC) using electron beam computed tomography (CT) when the initial CAC score (CACS) is zero and to determine the best interval to repeat a CAC scan. We studied 388 individuals with zero CACS (308 males; mean age: 48.8 ± 8.26 years) who underwent 2 consecutive CT scans in a period of at least 12 months apart. The interscan period was 2.99 ± 1.35 years (range: 1-6 years). Three-quarters of the individuals (75%) did not develop any CAC progression, 20.87% presented CAC progression of 1 to 10, 3.6% had 11 to 50, whereas only 0.51% had >50. The average time of new CAC development was 4.2 ± 1.1 years. Individuals with CAC progression presented higher incidence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolaemia and higer frequency of male gender than those with without CAC changes (p<0.02). No cardiac events occurred during the follow-up period.