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(Circulation. 2001;104:2679.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.

Clinical Investigation and Reports

Coronary Artery Calcification in Older Adults to Age 99

Prevalence and Risk Factors

Anne B. Newman, MD, MPH; Barbara L. Naydeck, MPH; Kim Sutton-Tyrrell, RN, DrPH; Adam Feldman, MD, MPH; Daniel Edmundowicz, MD; Lewis H. Kuller, MD, DrPH

From the Division of Geriatric Medicine (A.B.N., B.L.N.) and the Department of Epidemiology (A.B.N., K.S-T., A.F., D.E., L.H.K.), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Correspondence to Anne B. Newman, MD, MPH, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine, 3520 Fifth Avenue, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. E-mail anewman{at}pitt.edu

Background— Coronary artery calcification has been proposed as a noninvasive method to assess cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. However, the prevalence and risk factors for coronary artery calcification in populations >65 years have not been well studied.

Methods and Results— Electron beam tomography was performed to assess coronary artery calcium (CAC) in 614 older adults aged, on average, 80 years (range, 67 to 99 years); 367 (60%) were women, and 143 (23%) were black. Calcium scores ranged from 0 to 5459. Median scores were 622 for men and 205 for women. Scores increased by age and were lower in blacks than in whites. Nine percent of subjects (n=57) had no CAC, and 31% (n=190) had a score lower than 100. A history of CVD was associated with calcium score. Age, male sex, white race, CVD, triglyceride level, pack-years of smoking, and asthma, emphysema, or bronchitis (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) were independently associated with CAC score in the fourth quartile.

Conclusions— A wide range of CAC scores was observed, suggesting adaptation with aging. CAC may have potential to predict CVD in older adults, but this remains to be determined.

Key Words: calcium • coronary diseases • aging

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