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Identifying Coronary Artery Calcification on Non-gated Computed Tomography Scans
Published on: August 28, 2018
The impact of the menopause on coronary artery calcification examined by multislice computed tomography scanning
Chung-Hua Hsu1, Steve G N Chang, Kung-Chang Hwang
1Community Medicine Research Center and Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, 155 Li-Nong Street, Sec. 2, Peitou, Taipei, Taiwan.
Insights
Coronary artery calcification (CAC) increases significantly in women over 50, suggesting menopause accelerates this cardiovascular disease risk factor. Men show a less pronounced increase in CAC scores with age.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular disease research
- Medical imaging in cardiology
- Age-related health outcomes
Background:
- Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is a marker of atherosclerosis.
- Understanding age- and sex-specific differences in CAC is crucial for cardiovascular risk assessment.
- Menopause is a significant physiological change in females that may influence cardiovascular health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the differences in coronary artery calcification (CAC) scores between males and females over 50 years of age.
- To determine if age impacts CAC differently in men and women.
- To explore potential links between menopause and CAC progression.
Main Methods:
- Multislice CT scanning (MCTS) was used to assess CAC scores in 479 subjects (aged 40-70).
- Subjects were stratified into age groups, and CAC scores were categorized into quartiles.
- Comparisons focused on the percentage of high CAC scores and mean CAC scores between sexes and age groups.
Main Results:
- Females aged 50-59 showed a marked increase in high CAC scores (21.2%) compared to younger females (5%).
- Males exhibited a less substantial increase in high CAC scores (31.2% in 50-59 group vs. 25% in 40-49 group).
- Postmenopausal females (50-59) had significantly higher odds ratios for CAC (4.3) than males in the same age group (1.6).
Conclusions:
- Coronary artery calcification (CAC) appears more age-dependent in females over 50 than in males.
- Menopause may be a significant factor contributing to accelerated CAC in postmenopausal women.
- These findings highlight potential sex-specific differences in cardiovascular aging processes.
Background And Aims:
To examine whether there is a difference in coronary artery calcification (CAC) scores between males and females aged above 50 years.
Methods And Results:
A total of 479 subjects aged between 40 and 70 years with no clinical or family history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) were enrolled for this study. All subjects were assessed by multislice CT scanning (MCTS), and the CAC scores obtained were assigned to one of four quartiles for further assessment and comparison. The main outcome evaluated was the percentage of high CAC scores and mean CAC scores, comparing males and females of different age groups. This study found that the percentage of high CAC scores increased markedly from 5% (40-49 age group) to 21.2% (50-59 age group) among females. The increase was significantly less when comparing males from different age groups (from 25% in the 40-49 age group to 31.2% in the 50-59 age group). Females had higher odds ratios (ORs) postmenopausally (4.3 in the 50-59 age group) than males in the same age group (1.6).
Conclusions:
These initial findings seem to indicate that above 50 years of age, CAC is more dependent on age in females than in males, which might be due to the effect of the menopause.
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