Heartbeat: bone densitometry for atherosclerotic risk stratification in women

Atherosclerotic vascular calcification and bone mineral density (BMD) appear to mirror each other—less goes hand-in-hand with excess calcification—with plausible biological mechanisms explain this apparent paradox. But whether the vascular-bone relationship is an independent association or simply related ageing process shared risk factors has been unclear. In issue of Heart , Park colleagues1 investigated between BMD atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) events in a cohort 12 681 women aged 50–80 years age median 9.2 follow-up after measurement. The primary endpoint ASCVD death, non-fatal myocardial infarction ischaemic stroke occurred 3.7% patients. As hypothesised, lower was associated higher for (adjusted HR 1.38, p<0.001 per 1 SD decrease measured at hip). addition, clinical diagnosis osteoporosis independently even adjustment other HR: 1.79, p<0.001). authors suggest that evaluation may add incremental value stratification (figure 1). Figure Comparison prediction performance model score. addition osteopenia by total hip demonstrates significant improvement …