Comparison between coronary plaque 64-slice spiral CT characteristics and risk factors of coronary artery disease patients in Chinese Han population and Mongolian

Objective: To compare the coronary atherosclerotic plaque 64-slice spiral CT characteristics and the risk factors of Han (in Inner Mongolia) and Mongolian coronary artery disease patients.

Methods: The plaques of 126 Mongolian and 269 Han patients were analyzed by 64-slice spiral CT coronary angiography. Their gender, age, height, body mass, the history of hypertension, diabetes, smoking and family diseases, the levels of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were compared.

Results: The incidence of plaques (P <0.05), the proportion of plaques in the circumflex branch (P <0.05), the proportion of medium-severe lumen stenosis induced by plaques (P <0.05), and the proportion of obstructive plaque involved multi-branch (P <0.05) of the Mongolian patients were higher. The plaque compositions of the two groups did not differ significantly (P> 0.05). The body mass index of the Mongolian patients was higher (P <0.05). The hypertension, diabetes, smoking history, TG, TC, HDL-C and LDL-C of the two groups did not differ significantly (P> 0.05).

Conclusion: The higher incidence of coronary atherosclerotic plaques and the more severe lesions of the Mongolian patients may be related to their higher body mass index.

Calcification in major vessel beds relates to vascular brain disease

OBJECTIVE

Calcification in atherosclerotic plaques is a novel marker of atherosclerosis and is related to cardiovascular disease. However, its relationship with cerebrovascular disease has not been investigated extensively. We investigated the relationship between calcification in various vessel beds outside the brain and imaging markers of vascular brain disease.

METHODS AND RESULTS

A total of 885 community-dwelling people (mean age, 66.7 years) underwent computed tomography of the coronary arteries, aortic arch, and extracranial and intracranial carotid arteries to assess arterial calcification. Brain magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed to assess cerebral infarcts, microbleeds, and white matter lesions (WMLs). Calcification in each vessel bed was associated with presence of cerebral infarcts and with larger WML volume. The most prominent associations were found between intracranial carotid calcification and WML volume and between extracranial carotid calcification and infarcts. Adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors or ultrasound carotid plaque scores did not change these results. No associations were found between calcification and cerebral microbleeds.

CONCLUSIONS

Arterial calcification in major vessel beds is associated with vascular brain disease on magnetic resonance imaging. Most notably, larger intracranial carotid calcification load relates to larger WML volumes, and larger extracranial carotid calcification load relates to the presence of cerebral infarcts, independently of ultrasound carotid plaque score. This suggests that calcification of atherosclerotic plaque yields other information in addition to merely the presence of plaques, providing novel insights into the etiology of vascular brain disease.