| Title: | Calcification of the abdominal aorta is an under-appreciated cardiovascular disease risk factor in the general population |
| Journal: | Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine |
| Published: | 6 Oct 2022 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36277789/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2022.1003246 |
| URL: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2022.1003246/pdf |
Publication 10549
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Abstract
Calcification of large arteries is a high-risk factor in the development of cardiovascular diseases, however, due to the lack of routine monitoring, the pathology remains severely under-diagnosed and prevalence in the general population is not known. We have developed a set of machine learning methods to quantitate levels of abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) in the UK Biobank imaging cohort and carried out the largest to-date analysis of genetic, biochemical, and epidemiological risk factors associated with the pathology. In a genetic association study, we identified three novel loci associated with AAC (FGF9, NAV9, and APOE), and replicated a previously reported association at the TWIST1/HDAC9 locus. We find that AAC is a highly prevalent pathology, with ~ 1 in 10 adults above the age of 40 showing significant levels of hydroxyapatite build-up (Kauppila score > 3). Presentation of AAC was strongly predictive of future cardiovascular events including stenosis of precerebral arteries (HR~1.5), myocardial infarction (HR~1.3), ischemic heart disease (HR~1.3), as well as other diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR~1.3). Significantly, we find that the risk for myocardial infarction from elevated AAC (HR ~1.4) was comparable to the risk of hypercholesterolemia (HR~1.4), yet most people who develop AAC are not hypercholesterolemic. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority (98%) of individuals who develop pathology do so in the absence of known pre-existing risk conditions such as chronic kidney disease and diabetes (0.6% and 2.7% respectively). Our findings indicate that despite the high cardiovascular risk, calcification of large arteries remains a largely under-diagnosed lethal condition, and there is a clear need for increased awareness and monitoring of the pathology in the general population.</p>
7 Authors
- Anurag Sethi
- D. Leland Taylor
- J. Graham Ruby
- Jagadish Venkataraman
- Elena Sorokin
- Madeleine Cule
- Eugene Melamud
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 18448 | Investigation of factors contributing to Healthy Aging. |
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