CLINICAL RESEARCH
Ethnic Differences in the Prognostic Value of Coronary Artery Calcification for All-Cause Mortality
Khurram Nasir, MD, MPH*,
Leslee J. Shaw, PhD ,
Sandy T. Liu, MD ,
Steven R. Weinstein, MD ,
Tristen R. Mosler, MD ,
Phillip R. Flores, MD ,
Ferdinand R. Flores, MD ,
Paolo Raggi, MD ,
Daniel S. Berman, MD ,
Roger S. Blumenthal, MD|| and
Matthew J. Budoff, MD ,*
* Cardiac MRI PET CT Program, Massachusetts General Hospital Boston, Harvard School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
Division of Cardiology, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Research and Education Institute, Torrance, California
Department of Imaging and Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California
|| Ciccarone Preventive Cardiology Center, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
Manuscript received January 23, 2007;
revised manuscript received March 8, 2007,
accepted March 12, 2007.
* Reprints requests and correspondence: Dr. Matthew J. Budoff, Harbor-UCLA Research and Education Institute, 1124 West Carson Street, RB2, Torrance, California 90502. (Email: Budoff{at}ucla.edu).
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of coronary artery calcium (CAC), a known marker of subclinical atherosclerosis, in a large, ethnically diverse cohort of 14,812 patients for the prediction of all-cause mortality.
Background: Disparities in case fatality rates for heart disease among ethnic groups are well known. In 2001, rates of death from heart disease were 30% higher among African Americans (AA) than non-Hispanic whites (NHW). Some of this variability may be due to differing pathophysiological mechanisms and effects of underlying atherosclerosis.
Methods: Ten-year death rates from all causes (total deaths = 505) were compared using risk-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models in AA (n = 637), Hispanic (HS, n = 1,334), Asian (AS, n = 1,065), and NHW (n = 11,776) populations.
Results: Ethnic minority patients were generally younger (0.3 to 4 years), more often persons with diabetes (p < 0.0001), hypertensive (p < 0.0001), and female (p < 0.0001). The prevalence of CAC scores 100 was highest in NHW (31%) and lowest for HS (18%) (p < 0.0001). Overall survival was 96%, 93%, and 92% for AS, NHW, and HS, respectively, as compared with 83% for AA (p < 0.0001). When comparing prognosis by CAC scores in ethnic minorities as compared with NHW, relative risk ratios were highest for AA with CAC scores 400 exceeding 16.1 (p < 0.0001). Hispanics with CAC scores 400 had relative risk ratios from 7.9 to 9.0, whereas AS with CAC scores 1,000 had relative risk ratios 6.6-fold higher than NHW (p < 0.0001).
Conclusions: Consistent with population evidence, AA with increasing burden of subclinical coronary artery disease were the highest-risk ethnic minority population. These data support a growing body of evidence noting substantial differences in cardiovascular risk by ethnicity.
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Abbreviations and Acronyms
| | AA = African American(s) | | AS = Asian(s) | | CAC = coronary artery calcium | | CI = confidence interval | | CVD = cardiovascular disease | | EBT = electron beam tomography | | HS = Hispanic(s) | | NHW = non-Hispanic white(s) | | RR = relative risk |
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