Achilles tendon thickening is associated with disease severity and plaque vulnerability in patients with coronary artery disease.
BACKGROUND
Tendon xanthomas are accumulations of collagen and macrophages, which contain cholesterol esters and a marker of high risk for coronary artery disease (CAD).


OBJECTIVE
The aim of the article was to clarify whether the presence of Achilles tendon thickening (ATT) was associated with disease severity and plaque vulnerability in patients with CAD.


METHODS
A total of 241 consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention and ATT assessment were analyzed. ATT was defined as Achilles tendon thickness of ≥9 mm on radiograph. The severity of CAD and plaque vulnerability was assessed by the findings on angiogram and optical coherence tomography, respectively.


RESULTS
ATT was found in 44 patients (18.2%). The frequency of multivessel disease (79.6% vs 58.4%, P = .009) and left main lesion (13.6% vs 3.1%, P = .004) was significantly higher in patients with ATT (ATT group) than in patients without ATT (no ATT group). Multivariate logistic regression analyses demonstrated that the presence of ATT was independently associated with the presence of multivessel disease (odds ratio, 2.33; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-5.46; P = .031). The ATT group had a higher prevalence of intimal vascular channels (50.0% vs 24.7%, P = .018) and macrophage accumulation (58.3% vs 33.3%, P = .028) in culprit plaque than the no ATT group.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with the presence of ATT had a higher prevalence of multivessel coronary disease and left main coronary artery disease than with patients without ATT. The presence of ATT was also associated with vulnerable features, including intimal vascular channels and macrophage accumulation in culprit plaques.
['Hashimoto|Takuya|T|', 'Minami|Yoshiyasu|Y|', 'Kakizaki|Ryota|R|', 'Nemoto|Teruyoshi|T|', 'Fujiyoshi|Kazuhiro|K|', 'Meguro|Kentaro|K|', 'Shimohama|Takao|T|', 'Tojo|Taiki|T|', 'Ako|Junya|J|']
D000125:Achilles Tendon D000792:Angiography D015415:Biomarkers D002788:Cholesterol Esters D003324:Coronary Artery Disease D018450:Disease Progression D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007564:Japan D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D062645:Percutaneous Coronary Intervention D012307:Risk Factors D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence D014973:Xanthomatosis
Optical coherence tomography Multivessel disease Dyslipidemia Familial hypercholesterolemia Vulnerable plaque