Association of coronary artery calcium and carotid intima-media thickness with white matter hyperintensity

This study aimed to investigate the associations of coronary artery calcium (CAC) and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) with white matter hyperintensity (WMH). A total of 155 participants who underwent computed tomography for CAC scoring, carotid ultrasound, and brain magnetic resonance imaging within 2 days were included in this study. Univariate logistic analysis was performed to identify the variables to include in multivariate analysis. Age, sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, smoking history, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, HbA1C, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were included as variables. After univariate logistic analysis, the variables which showed significance (P < .05) were included in multivariate logistic analysis for each CAC, CIMT, and WMH. To identify the effect of CAC and CIMT on WMH, multivariate logistic regression analysis of WMH also included the status of CAC and CIMT. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, age (odds ratio [OR] 1.0747; confidence interval [CI] 1.0223-1.1279), female sex (OR 0.2924; CI 0.0875-0.9770), and hypertension (OR 2.3666; CI 1.0570-5.2990) were associated with CAC. Age (OR 1.1724; CI 1.1003-1.2493) and diabetes mellitus (OR 3.1934; CI 1.1236-9.0760) were associated with CIMT. Age (OR 1.1287; CI 1.0605-1.2014) and CAC positive (OR 2.3087; CI 1.0630-5.0145) were associated with WMH. CAC, but not CIMT, was significantly associated with WMH.