Validity and usefulness of aortic arch calcification in chest X-ray

Alcohol consumption and aortic arch calcification in an older Chinese sample: the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between alcohol consumption and aortic arch calcification (AAC) in an older Chinese sample.

METHODS

In 27,844 older people aged 50-85, socioeconomic position and lifestyle factors were assessed by a questionnaire. The presence and severity of AAC were diagnosed from chest X-ray by two experienced radiologists.

RESULTS

In men, the risk for AAC increased significantly in frequent or excessive drinkers [adjusted odds ratio (OR)=1.36 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.16-1.59) and 1.49 (1.21-1.83) for those who drank >5 times/week and those who drank excessively, respectively] (P for trend from 0.002 to 0.001). When AAC was analyzed as an outcome variable with 3 categories of severity, significant dose-response relations between the severity of AAC and alcohol consumption were observed, with those who drank frequently (>5/week) or excessively having more serious AAC (P for trend=0.03 and 0.02, respectively). No significant association was found in women as few drank excessively.

CONCLUSION

The presence and severity of AAC were associated with quantity or frequency of alcohol consumption in a dose-response pattern, suggesting that alcohol drinking, even when moderate, has no benefit for AAC. Excessive drinking increased the risk of AAC by 50% compared to never drinkers.

Risk factors for progression of aortic arch calcification in patients on maintenance hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis

Vascular calcification is accelerated during dialysis and is known to be an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Progression of aortic arch calcification (AoAC) can be simply estimated with an AoAC score (AoACS) using plain chest radiography. The objective of this study was to evaluate risk factors for AoAC progression. The enrolled subjects were 125 newly treated hemodialysis patients and 59 peritoneal dialysis patients. In the patients who had undergone chest radiography before initial dialysis therapy and every year, we estimated AoACS and then divided the patients into two groups based on the presence or absence of AoAC progression. We also compared the baseline clinical and biochemical profiles in the two groups. Eighty-five (46.2%) were men (mean age, 58.6 ± 12.7 years). Seventy-six patients (41.3%) had AoAC before initial dialysis, with a mean AoACS of 13.0 ± 20.4%. The mean duration of follow-up was 2.7 ± 1.0 years. Half of the patients (50%) had progressive AoAC. Age >65 years (p = 0.003), dialysis duration (p = 0.004), diabetes (p = 0.015), and the presence of AoAC at baseline (p = 0.001) were related to AoAC progression. No significant association was found between AoAC progression and the baseline clinical parameters, including gender, obesity, hypertension, and dialysis modality. In a multivariate analysis, dialysis duration (p = 0.003) and the presence of AoAC at baseline (p < 0.001) were independent risk factors for AoAC progression in patients undergoing dialysis. The duration of dialysis and the presence of AoAC before initial dialysis were significantly related to the progression of AoAC in these patients. The results suggest that patients should be carefully managed from the predialysis stage to prevent AoAC progression and to reduce cardiovascular morbidity.

Aortic arch calcification and clinical outcome in patients with end-stage renal disease

Vascular calcification is very common in end-stage renal disease, especially in hemodialysis patients. Vascular calcification is associated with poor prognosis in hemodialysis patients. The transformation of vascular smooth muscle cells into osteoblast-like cells seems to be a key element in the pathogenesis of vascular calcification. In addition to traditional risk factors including hypertension and dyslipidemia, hemodialysis patients possess a number of non-traditional cardiovascular risk factors, which may be associated with the pathogenesis of vascular calcification, such as duration of dialysis and imbalance of mineral metabolism. The severity of vascular calcification can be assessed with computed tomography (CT), but a simple technique is required as a routine practice. In an attempt to evaluate the extent of vascular calcification, we have proposed a simple non-invasive technique for estimating aortic arch calcification (AoAC) in hemodialysis patients. The present review summarizes the following aspects: (i) a method of estimating AoAC and the correlation between AoAC score estimated by chest X-ray and AoAC volume evaluated by multi-detector CT as a gold standard, (ii) relation of the presence of AoAC to the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, and (iii) Kaplan-Meier analysis in terms of cardiovascular mortality in patients with AoAC compared to those without AoAC. We suggest that screening patients undergoing dialysis for the presence of AoAC is a cost-effective, efficient way to identify those patients at the highest risk of cardiovascular events and will allow for the treatment strategies to prevent vascular calcification.

Serum fibroblast growth factor-23 levels and progression of aortic arch calcification in non-diabetic patients on chronic hemodialysis

AIM

Vascular calcification is a cause of cardiovascular death in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between the progression of aortic arch calcification (AoAC) and serum fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-23.

METHODS

The enrolled study subjects were 127 (83 men and 44 women) HD patients. Calcification of the aortic arch was semiquantitatively estimated with a score (AoACS) on plain chest radiology. Change in AoACS (ΔAoACS) was obtained by subtracting the baseline AoACS value from the follow-up AoACS value. The second assessment was performed from 5 years after the first determination.

RESULTS

The percentage of male gender in non-progressors (58.5%) was lesser than in regressors (60.0%) and progressors (74.6%). In addition, the dialysis duration in regressors (14.1±5.1 years) was shorter than in non-progressors (19.5±7.0 years) and progressors (16.8±7.5 years). Interestingly, the serum FGF-23 level in regressors (39225.5±9247.9 pg/mL) was significantly higher than in non-progressors (12896.5±26323.5 pg/mL) and progressors (14062.4±18456.8 pg/mL). Multi-ple regression analyses showed male gender (β value=0.969, F=5.092, p=0.0192), serum levels of albumin (β value=-1.395, F=4.541, p=0.0296) and log FGF-23 (β value=-0.001, F=7.273, p=0.0115) to be significant independent determinants of ΔAoACS.

CONCLUSION

Changes in AoAC evaluated by using a simple chest radiograph are associated with serum FGF-23 levels. Excess accumulation of FGF-23 in serum may enable to inhibit the calcification process in vessel walls in chronic HD patients.

Aortic arch calcification detectable on chest X-ray is a strong independent predictor of cardiovascular events beyond traditional risk factors

OBJECTIVES

Arterial calcification makes the management of hemodynamics more difficult. Some reports have previously shown that simple assessment of aortic calcification using plain radiography is associated with cardiovascular (CV) events; however, these studies simply assessed whether aortic calcification was present or absent only, without considering its extent. Here, we evaluated validity of grading aortic arch calcification (AAC) to predict new CV events.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We retrospectively reviewed chest X-rays in 239 asymptomatic out-patients who underwent measurement of endothelial function at the 1994-2000 without past history of CV events. The extent of AAC was divided into four grades (0-3). Among these subjects, the follow-up of CV events in 209 patients was completed. At baseline, AAC grade was positively related to age, pulse pressure, diabetes and renal dysfunction. Impairment of endothelial function, as determined by flow-mediated dilation (FMD), was also correlated to increasing AAC grade. Fifty-seven CV events in total occurred during a mean follow-up period of 69+/-45 months. With multivariate adjustment, Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the incidence was significantly higher in patients with higher AAC grade (grades 2 and 3) than in those with grade 0 or 1 (p<0.01, log-rank test). Two kinds of multivariate Cox-proportional hazards analyses showed the predictive values of AAC grade were significant (hazard ratio, 2.49; p=0.01, 2.56; p<0.01, respectively), and the predictive power was superior to that of renal dysfunction or FMD. In addition, the prediction was valuable even in patients without CKD.

CONCLUSIONS

AAC detectable on chest X-ray is a strong independent predictor of CV events beyond traditional risk factors including endothelial dysfunction. Risk stratification by assessment of AAC may provide important information for management of atherosclerotic disease.