Coronary events, cardiac risk factors, and cardiovascular medications in patients with normal and abnormal myocardial scans.
| Event/Risk Factor | Normal Scan, n = 76 | Abnormal Scan, n = 46 | p |
|---|---|---|---|
| New coronary event, n (%) | 2 (2.6) | 13 (28.3) | < 0.0001 |
| Ten-year Framingham risk score*†, mean (SD) | 2.01 (1.10) | 2.39 (0.98) | 0.006 |
| Hypertension*,§, n (%) | 19 (25.0) | 23 (50.0) | 0.005 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg), mean (SD) | 123.6 (18.4) | 130.9 (18.2) | 0.04 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg), mean (SD) | 76.9 (9.9) | 78.1 (7.6) | 0.48 |
| Hypercholesterolemia*††, n (%) | 22 (29.0) | 17 (37.0) | 0.36 |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/l)a, mean (SD) | 4.94 (1.16) | 5.06 (1.09) | 0.56 |
| Reduced HDL cholesterol*,b, n (%) | 2 (2.7) | 2 (4.4) | 0.63 |
| HDL cholesterol (mmol/l)a, mean (SD) | 1.47 (0.38) | 1.34 (0.38) | 0.07 |
| Elevated LDL cholesterol*,c, n (%) | 17 (23.0) | 12 (26.7) | 0.65 |
| LDL cholesterol (mmol/l)a, mean (SD) | 2.92 (0.98) | 2.94 (1.30) | 0.93 |
| Smoking*, n (%) | 11 (14.7) | 6 (13.0) | 0.80 |
| Diabetes*,d, n (%) | 3 (4.0) | 2 (4.4) | 1.00 |
| Body mass index*,e | 24.4 (5.8) | 25.9 (6.0) | 0.16 |
| Antihypertensive usef, n (%) | |||
| From clinic entry to scan | 23 (30.3) | 27 (58.7) | 0.002 |
| From scan to CAD event (or last visit) | 42 (55.3) | 28 (60.9) | 0.54 |
| Lipid-lowering medication useg, n (%) | |||
| From clinic entry to scan | 1/3 (33.3) | 5/14 (35.7) | 1.00 |
| From scan to CAD event (or last visit) | 17 (23.3) | 9 (21.4) | 0.82 |
↵* At the time of myocardial scan;
↵† calculated using patient’s age, systolic blood pressure, smoking status, and total and high density cholesterol level; on average, low-risk women below 50 years of age have a 10-year risk score ranging from minus 2 to 3 inclusive, while low-risk women above 50 years of age have a 10-year risk score ranging from 6 to 8 inclusive22–24;
↵§ defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mm Hg or treatment with antihypertensives25–27;
↵†† ≥5.2 mmol/l or lipid-lowering therapy28.
↵a To convert mmol/l to mg/l multiply by 38.67;
↵b < 0.9 mmol/l29,30;
↵c > 3.4 mmol/l29,30;
↵d defined as fasting plasma glucose > 7.0 mmol/l or diabetes therapy30,31;
↵e weight in kilogram divided by the square of the height in meters32;
↵f diuretics, beta-blockers, calcium-channel blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and angiotensin II receptor blockers;
↵g HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (“statins”).