Five hundred forty-four unselected patients were examined by a radiologist as to the presence or absence of coronary artery calcification. The overall prevalence of coronary calcification was 20% and there was a definite increase in the prevalence of the finding with increasing age. A comparison of 94 patients with coronary calcification with a matched control group without calcification indica...

BACKGROUND Ultrafast computed tomography (CT), by acquiring images of the proximal coronary arteries, detects coronary calcifications and has been demonstrated to be highly sensitive for the detection of coronary artery disease in many small studies. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between ultrafast CT scanning and coronary angiography in a large number of symptomatic pa...

Stiffening of the central elastic arteries is one of the earliest detectable manifestations of adverse change within the vessel wall. Although an association between carotid artery stiffness and adverse events has been demonstrated, little is known about the relationship between stiffness and atherosclerosis. Even less is known about the impact of age, sex, and race on this association. To eluc...

Stiffening of the central elastic arteries is one of the earliest detectable manifestations of adverse change within the vessel wall. Although an association between carotid artery stiffness and adverse events has been demonstrated, little is known about the relationship between stiffness and atherosclerosis. Even less is known about the impact of age, sex, and race on this association. To eluc...

BACKGROUND/AIMS The aim was to determine which of three sets of metabolic syndrome (MetS) criteria (International Diabetes Federation [IDF], National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III [ATP III], and European Group for the Study of Insulin Resistance [EGIR]) best predicts the coronary artery calcification (CAC) score in a cross-sectional study. This has not been evaluated i...

Background Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death worldwide. Aging is an unavoidable coronary risk factor and is associated with dermatological signs that could be a marker for increased coronary risk. We tested the hypothesis that hair graying as a visible marker of aging is associated with risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) independent of chronological age. Methods This cross...

BACKGROUND Circulating microparticles (MPs) derived from endothelial cells and blood cells bear procoagulant activity and promote thrombin generation. Thrombin exerts proinflammatory effects mediating the progression of atherosclerosis. Aortic valve stenosis may represent an atherosclerosis-like process involving both the aortic valve and the vascular system. The aim of this study was to invest...

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death in the United States and the world. Identifying new risk factors and improving the screening methods for CAD are continuously evolving processes. The coronary artery calcification (CAC) score, as measured by computed tomographic coronary angiography (CTCA) is of intense interest to clinicians and investigators because of its potential ...

INTRODUCTION Epicardial fat volume (EFV) has been reported to correlate with the severity of coronary artery disease (CAD). Pericardial fat volume (PFV) has recently been reported to be strongly associated with CAD severity and presence. We aimed to investigate the relationship between EFV and PFV with severity of coronary artery stenosis in patients undergoing 64-slice multi-slice computed tom...

OBJECTIVES The aim of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy in detecting high-grade coronary stenoses in patients with known coronary artery disease (CAD) using multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). BACKGROUND The MDCT systems with electrocardiographic (ECG)-gating permit visualization of the coronary arteries. However, severe calcifications and higher heart rates are ...