Extracoronary Thoracic and Coronary Artery Calcifications on Chest CT for XXXX Screening: Association with Established Cardiovascular Risk Factors - The "CT-Risk" Trial.

@entity1 @entity101 @entity6 @entity301 @entity1007 @entity2 @entity460 @entity729
RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the correlation between prevalence and degree of @entity729 ( @entity729 ) and extracoronary calcifications (ECCs), scored quantitatively according to Agatston and semiquantitatively by visual analysis, in chest computed tomography (CT) studies obtained for @entity2 screening in asymptomatic subjects and in @entity1 with known @entity301 ( @entity301 ), and to compare the association of ECC and @entity729 to established cardiovascular risk factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective study on 501 males (67      8  years) with a history of working dust exposure who underwent nongated low-dose chest CT for @entity2 screening. Of these, 63 (12.6%) had a history of @entity301 , the remaining 438 subjects (87.4%) were clinically asymptomatic and without a history of @entity301 . On the day of the CT study, subjects underwent a thorough clinical examination including blood tests and completed a standardized questionnaire to establish a complete medical history. ECC and @entity729 scores were quantified according to Agatston and, in addition, by visual rating of @entity460 load of individual vessel territories on a five-point scale from "absent" to "extensive." Results were correlated with the respective subjects' cardiovascular risk factors and with the presence or absence of @entity301 . RESULTS: ECC scores correlated significantly with @entity729 scores (two-sided Spearman 0.515; P  <  .001). ECC scores were associated significantly (P  <  .001) with cardiovascular risk factors (smoking history, @entity101 , @entity6 , and @entity1007 ) and with subjects' Framingham/prospective cardiovascular m  nster study scores, whereas @entity729 scores were associated only with the presence of @entity1007 . @entity729 scores were strongly associated with @entity301 than ECC scores (area under the curve, 0.88 vs. 0.66 at receiver operating characteristic analysis). Visual scoring of ECC/ @entity729 load correlated closely with the respective Agatston values (P  <  .001) and revealed the same association (or lack thereof) with cardiovascular risk factors/ @entity301 . CONCLUSIONS: In nongated low-dose CT for @entity2 screening, @entity729 and ECC load can be accurately established by visual analysis. ECC and @entity729 scores correlate closely, but not perfectly. There is a strong association between established cardiovascular risk factors and ECC load, but not @entity729 load, providing further evidence that ECC scoring may complement @entity729 scoring for broader risk assessment, for example, regarding prediction of extracoronary vascular events.
