Advanced coronary artery calcification is associated with ischemic stroke.

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Neurology
• Radiology

Background:

• Coronary artery calcification (CAC) quantifies subclinical atherosclerosis.
• CAC is a tool for cardiovascular event risk assessment.
• The link between CAC and ischemic stroke is not well-established.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the association between coronary artery calcification (CAC) and ischemic stroke.
• To determine if CAC can improve cardiovascular risk prediction.

Main Methods:

• CAC scores were measured in 401 ischemic stroke patients and 5,420 controls.
• Case-referent sets (1:2) were matched for key demographic and clinical factors.
• Conditional logistic regression analyzed the association between CAC and stroke risk.

Main Results:

• Moderate-to-extensive CAC (≥100) was found in 26.9% of stroke cases vs. 20.7% of controls.
• Moderate-to-extensive CAC was associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke (OR 1.72).
• CAC scoring significantly improved the predictive accuracy of the Framingham risk score for cardiovascular events.

Conclusions:

• Moderate-to-extensive CAC is associated with a higher occurrence of ischemic stroke.
• CAC scoring may enhance the evaluation of ischemic stroke risk.
• CAC is a valuable tool for assessing both cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease risk.