Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation 2 (SCORE2), arterial stiffness, and subclinical coronary atherosclerosis in a...

To investigate the association between Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation 2 (SCORE2) and subclinical damage in two vascular beds: atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries and aortic arterial stiffness, in a large population-based cohort without cardiovascular disease or diabetes.

Design: A cross-sectional study based on Swedish CArdio Pulmonary bioImaging Study (SCAPIS) data. Study population: A population-based cohort of 3087 participants aged 50-64.

Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) was measured, and aortic arterial stiffness was defined as PWV≥ 10 m/s. Coronary artery calcium score (CACS) was determined by coronary computed tomography and clinically significant coronary calcification was defined as CACS > 100.

The prevalence of arterial stiffness was 6.6% in the low-moderate SCORE2 risk group, 31.0% in the high-risk group, and 53.3% in the very high-risk group. The prevalence of coronary calcification was 4.5%, 18.5% 23.0%, respectively. There was a modest overlap between arterial stiffness and coronary calcification in all SCORE2 risk groups. When comparing the high SCORE2 risk group with the low-moderate risk group, the Odds ratio (OR) was 6.4, 95% confidence interval (CI 5.1-8.0) for arterial stiffness and 4.8 (CI 3.7-6.3) for coronary calcification. When comparing the very high SCORE2 risk group to the low-moderate group, the OR was 16.2 (CI 11.3-23.1) for arterial stiffness and 6.4 (CI 4.2-9.7) for coronary calcification.

Our study shows that high cardiovascular risk according to SCORE2 is associated with increased arterial stiffness and significant coronary calcification in a population without prevalent cardiovascular disease or diabetes. This knowledge can be useful in primary care, where SCORE2 is frequently used as a risk prediction tool. The modest overlap between arterial stiffness and coronary calcification suggests that CACS and PWV describe different types of vascular damage.