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CAC predictive of stroke in the general population
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Coronary artery calcium appears to be an independent predictor of stroke, in addition to classical risk factors, for individuals at low or intermediate risk, according to new data in Stroke.
Researchers studied 4,180 patients aged 45 to 75 years who were included in the population-based Heinz Nixdorf Recall study. The participants had no previous history of stroke, CHD or MI. The researchers measured coronary artery calcium (CAC) values using non-enhanced electron beam-CT.
During a mean follow-up of 8 years, 92 strokes occurred; 82 were ischemic and 10 hemorrhagic.
Patients who had a stroke had significantly higher CAC values at baseline compared with those who did not have a stroke (median, 104.8 vs. 11.2; P<.001). Those with CAC levels greater than 400 Hounsfield units (HU) were three times more likely to have a stroke than those with values below 399 HU, according to a press release.
Multivariable Cox regression revealed that CAC was an independent predictor of stroke in addition to age, systolic BP and smoking. CAC measurement was also useful for predicting stroke in patients aged younger than 65 years and those at low CVD risk (low or intermediate Framingham risk score), independent of atrial fibrillation.
“This study demonstrates that stroke risk is tightly aligned with coronary atherosclerosis, showing the closely related nature of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease,” Dirk M. Hermann, MD, professor of vascular neurology and dementia at University Hospital Essen, Germany, stated in the press release.
Although the study was conducted in Germany, Hermann said the findings among the middle-aged participants are likely generalizable to Americans in the same age group, according to the release.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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