Association of arterial stiffness with coronary artery calcium score in the general-population: the Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage study

Objectives: Coronary artery calcium score (CACS) is a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis. However, there is little data related to the association between arterial stiffness and CACS in the general population. The aim of this study was to explore the association between carotid femoral-pulse wave velocity (c-f PWV), a widely accepted marker of arterial stiffness, and CACS. Methods: Participants with complete measurements on c-f PWV, CACS and confounding variables from the Swedish CArdioPulmonary biolmage Study (SCAPIS) cohort were included in the final study population (n=8725). CACS was divided into three categories (<10, >10 and <= 100, and >100) and multinomial logistic regression was performed to explore the association between these categories of CACS and quartiles of c-f PWV, and for per one standard deviation (SD) increment of c-f PWV. Results: CACS <= 10, >10 and <= 100, and >100 were present in 69.3, 17.8 and 12.9% of the study population, respectively. The odds ratio (OR) for CACS >100 for the fourth quartile (Q4) of c-f PWV vs. Q1 (reference category) was 1.62 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.25-2.12) after adjustments. One standard deviation increase in c-f PWV was independently associated with a higher odds of having a CACS category >100 (OR: 1.25, 95% CI 1.14-1.36) in the final multivariable model. Conclusion: c-f PWV is positively associated with increased risk of higher CACS, and can be valuable in identifying individuals at risk for sub-clinical atherosclerosis.