In this study, we define the correlation between LV volumes (both LV end-diastolic volume [LVEDV] and LV end-systolic volume [LVESV]) and ejection fraction (EF) on 64 slice multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT). We also determine the accuracy of all the LV volume (LVV) parameters to detect LV systolic dysfunction (LVSD) and investigate the feasibility of using LVV as a surrogate of LVSD on prospectively gated imaging to prevent the radiation exposure of retrospective imaging. 568 patients undergoing 64-detector MDCT were divided into 2 groups: Group 1-subjects without any heart disease and LVEF ≥ 50%; and Group 2-patients with coronary artery disease and LVEF < 50% (defined as LVSD). The LVV (LV cavity only) and Total LV volume (cavity + LV mass) at end-systole and end-diastole (LVESV, Total LVESV, LVEDV and Total LVEDV) were measured. The upper limit values (mean + 2 SD) of all LVV parameters in Group 1 were used as the reference criterion to diagnose LVSD in Group 2. An exponential correlation was found between LVEF and all the LVV parameters. The specificity to detect LVSD in Group 2 was >90% and the sensitivity was 88.9, 83.3, 61.3 and 74.9% by using LVESV, Total LVESV, LVEDV and Total LVEDV, respectively. Systolic and diastolic LV volumes had a high correlation with LVEF and a high accuracy to detect LVSD. Thus, on prospectively triggered imaging, ventricular volumes can predict patients with reduced LVEF, and appropriate referrals can be made.

Background

Smaller coronary artery diameter portends worse outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The suggestion that women have smaller coronary artery diameters than men has not been validated by a large-scale study.

Hypothesis

We sought to confirm a gender difference with respect to coronary artery diameter, even after accounting for body habitus and left ventricular mass (LVM).

Methods

From 4200 subjects evaluated for cardiovascular disease by computed tomography angiography, we selected 710 subjects (383 males, 327 females) with coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores <100, eliminating patients with artery remodeling. Diameters of the left main (LM), left anterior descending (LAD), left circumflex (CX), and right coronary arteries (RCA), were measured. Measurements were compared using a 2-sample t test and the multiple regression model, accounting for body habitus and LVM.

Results

After adjusting for age, race, weight, height, body mass index, body surface index, LVM, and CAC, women have smaller diameters in the LM (males 4.35 mm, females 3.91 mm), LAD (males 3.54 mm, females 3.24 mm), CX (males 3.18, females 2.75 mm), and RCA (males 3.70 mm, females 3.26 mm) (P < 0.001). This difference is not related to body habitus or LVM.

Conclusions

Gender significantly influences artery diameter of the LM, LAD, CX, and RCA. This may warrant gender specific approaches during PCI and CABG. As neither body habitus nor LVM relate to the difference in coronary artery diameter, our study encourages a search for inherent differences between genders that can account for this difference.

Atrial volumetric measurement has proven clinical implications. Advances in cardiac imaging, notably the precision enabled by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT), herald the need for new criteria of what constitutes normal volumetric measurements. With use of 64-slice MDCT, we compared the atrial volumes in healthy individuals with those in individuals with coronary artery disease. By means of manual segmentation, we measured biatrial volume in 686 participants who underwent retrospective electrocardiographic-gated MDCT angiographic evaluation. The study population included a control group of 203 persons with no cardiac abnormalities, and a study group of 483 patients with obstructive coronary artery disease. All variables were compared between men and women and between the groups. We found a significant difference in left atrial end-systolic and end-diastolic volumes between men and women in the control group (P <0.05); however, right atrial volumes were similar. In comparison with the entire control group, the coronary artery disease group had significantly higher left atrial volume, significantly lower right atrial stroke volume, and significantly lower biatrial ejection fraction, except for left atrial ejection fraction in men. Right atrial volume and left atrial stroke volume were not significantly different. The results imply that a sex-specific reference value is necessary for left atrial volumetric evaluation, and that left atrial volume and biatrial ejection fraction (excluding left atrial ejection fraction in men) might be useful during diagnosis and prognosis in patients who have coronary artery disease.

Objective

The objective of this article was to study the association of aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) with bone mineral density (BMD).

Methods

Spine BMD was evaluated in a subset of 2028 participants from the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis cohort who were NSAID users (including aspirin) and underwent both lumbar and thoracic imaging. Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis is a prospective cohort study that includes 4 ethnic groups (white, Asian, African American, and Hispanic). Trabecular BMD was evaluated by quantitative computed tomography based on cardiac computed tomography images, which were obtained during coronary calcium scans. The analyses were cross sectional using baseline examination data for exposure and outcomes.

Results

After adjustment for potential confounders including age, sex, race, and traditional cardiovascular risk factors, a small association between trabecular BMD and baseline use of COX-2-selective NSAID was observed. COX-2-selective NSAID use was associated with 7.4 mg/cm (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.6-13.3; P = 0. 013) higher trabecular BMD in thoracic spine and 10.6 mg/cm higher at lumbar spine (95% CI, 5.1-16.1; P < 0.001). Among regular aspirin users, there was no association between drug use and trabecular BMD. Considering all spine fractures together, the prevalence ratio of fractures among aspirin users was 1.0 (95% CI, 0.6-1.6) and 1.1 (95% CI, 0.5-2.3) among COX-2-selective NSAID users.

Conclusions

Regular use of aspirin has no significant association with trabecular BMD in either the thoracic or lumbar spine and no association with fracture prevalence. COX-2-selective NSAIDs may have modest positive association with BMD, but the mechanisms were not assessed and the observational study design makes residual confounding a possible alternate explanation. Potential pathological mechanisms warrant further longitudinal exploration.

Although subjects with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at markedly increased risk for cardiovascular mortality, the relation between CKD and aortic valve calcification has not been fully elucidated. Also, few data are available on the relation of aortic valve calcification and earlier stages of CKD. We sought to assess the relation of aortic valve calcium (AVC) with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), traditional and novel cardiovascular risk factors, and markers of bone metabolism in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study. All patients who underwent aortic valve scanning in the CRIC study were included. The relation between AVC and eGFR, traditional and novel cardiovascular risk factors, and markers of calcium metabolism were analyzed using both unadjusted and adjusted regression models. A total of 1,964 CRIC participants underwent computed tomography for AVC quantification. Decreased renal function was independently associated with increased levels of AVC (eGFR 47.11, 44.17, and 39 ml/min/1.73 m2, respectively, p<0.001). This association persisted after adjusting for traditional, but not novel, AVC risk factors. Adjusted regression models identified several traditional and novel risk factors for AVC in patients with CKD. There was a difference in AVC risk factors between black and nonblack patients. In conclusion, our study shows that eGFR is associated in a dose-dependent manner with AVC in patients with CKD, and this association is independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors.

Rationale and objective

Sensitive detection of bone mineral density (BMD) change is a key issue to monitor and evaluate the individual bone health status, as well as bone metabolism and bone mineral status. The ability to use thoracic quantitative computed tomography (QCT) to detect the annual change of BMD remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the sensitivity in detecting age-related bone mineral loss using the thoracic QCT from the electrocardiographically gated heart scans in comparison to whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and standard lumbar QCT.

Materials and methods

A total of 121 asymptomatic patients' imaging data, including DXA whole body scan, cardiac CT scan, and abdomen scans were analyzed. The BMD of the thoracolumbar spine, upper, and lower extremities were measured using QCT and DXA, respectively. The age-related annual rate of bone density loss was computed and compared to the thoracic and lumbar QCT, as well DXA measures.

Results

The age-related annual rate of bone loss with QCT was -0.70 mg/mL³ (-0.75%/y) in women, -0.83 mg/mL³ (-0.86%/y) in men in the thoracic and the lumbar trabecular QCT, respectively. Compared to the QCT, DXA demonstrates a lower annual rate of bone loss in the area of BMD measurement (P < .05 in all, excluding legs of women) in -0.45, -0.42, -0.67, and -0.46 in women, in -0.32, -0.02, -0.12, and -0.08 in men for thoracic, lumbar, leg, and arm, respectively.

Conclusion

We conclude that the thoracic and the lumbar QCT provide a similar and more sensitive method for detecting bone mineral loss when compared to DXA.

Background and aims

Previously, osteoporosis and coronary artery disease were considered unrelated. However, beyond age, these two conditions appear to share common etiologies that are not yet fully understood. We examined the relationship between thoracic spine bone mineral density (BMD) and severity of coronary artery calcium (CAC) score.

Methods and results

MESA is a prospective cohort study of 6814 men and women between the ages of 45 and 84 years, without clinical cardiovascular disease. This study included participants who underwent non-contrast chest CT scans to determine CAC score and thoracic spine BMD. The thoracic spine BMD was categorized into osteoporosis (defined as T score: ≤ -2.5), osteopenia (T-score between: -2.5 and -1) and normal BMD (T-score ≥ -1). There were 3392 subjects who had CAC >0 at baseline. The prevalence of CAC >0 was 36% in normal BMD group, 49% in the osteopenia and 68% in osteoporosis group. After adjusting for risk factors of atherosclerosis, in multivariate regression models we found a significant association between CAC and osteoporosis (OR: 1.40, 95% CI 1.16-1.69, p value < 0.0004). Furthermore, we stratified our results by gender and found a statistically significant association in both men and women.

Conclusion

Results from this cross-sectional analysis of a large population based ethnically diverse cohort indicate a significant inverse relationship between thoracic BMD and CAC in both genders independent of other cardiovascular risk factors. Future studies need to explore the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms relating BMD and coronary artery calcification.