Chronic coumarin treatment is associated with increased extracoronary arterial calcification in humans.

Extracoronary arterial calcification in humans is increased after chronic coumarin treatment.

Increased vascular calcification in patients receiving warfarin.

OBJECTIVE Matrix gla protein is a vitamin K-dependent inhibitor of medial arterial calcification whose synthesis and activity are blocked by warfarin. Warfarin induces arterial calcification in experimental models, but whether this occurs in humans is unclear. This was addressed by examining breast arterial calcification, which is exclusively medial and easily identified on mammograms. APPROA...

The Association Between Coronary Calcification Assessed by Electron Beam Computed Tomography and Measures of Extracoronary Atherosclerosis

OBJECTIVES The present study was designed to examine the associations of coronary calcification assessed by electron beam computed tomography (CT) with measures of extracoronary atherosclerosis. BACKGROUND Although measures of extracoronary atherosclerosis have been used to predict coronary events, it is not yet known to what extent those measures reflect coronary atherosclerosis. METHODS The R...

Coronary calcification and its relation to extracoronary atherosclerosis in asymptomatic hypercholesterolemic men. The PCV METRA Group.

BACKGROUND The prevalence of coronary calcifications and extracoronary plaques was studied in patients with asymptomatic hypercholesterolemia. METHODS AND RESULTS Ultrafast computed tomography for coronary calcification (presence or absence: calcium score) and echographic assessment of carotid, aortic, and femoral plaques were performed in 111 hypercholesterolemic men: 65% had coronary calcif...

The Denser the Merrier?

The coronary artery calcium (CAC) score, the Agatston score, is a robust noninvasive surrogate marker of coronary atherosclerosis, which is strongly associated with increased risk of incident cardiovascular events and mortality. Its ability to predict adverse cardiovascular outcome is incremental to traditional risk factors used in clinical risk prediction, and it has been validated by studies ...