Artery inflammation score linked to higher cardiac death risk
The highest-scoring quarter had 1.8-times higher relative cardiac death risk than the lowest in UK cohorts, and almost 3-times higher risk in US cohorts.
Limit: The study included only patients undergoing coronary scans during routine clinical care
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
An observational study included 78,777 UK patients and 4,228 US patients who underwent coronary artery CT scans during routine care. Their median age was 57, and 47% were women.
Researchers developed an artificial intelligence score combining scan patterns in fat surrounding coronary arteries with artery gene-activity profiles to assess inflammation. Median follow-up was 5.60 years in the UK and 4.47 years in the US. Cardiac deaths occurred in 2,753 UK patients (3.5%) and 130 US patients (3.1%) during follow-up. Higher scores were associated with higher cardiac death risk in both countries, including after accounting for age, sex and several cardiovascular risk factors. Higher scores were also linked to new heart failure and chronic kidney disease.
Why it matters
For age-related cardiovascular disease, the study addresses whether measuring artery inflammation could help identify patients for targeted anti-inflammatory interventions.
Caveats
This observational study cannot show that arterial inflammation caused the deaths or that targeting it would improve outcomes. The report is a conference abstract, and its population consisted of patients undergoing coronary scans during routine care.
