Arterial stiffness, fatty liver and the presence of coronary artery calcium in a large population cohort

BACKGROUND: We tested whether fatty liver, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and conventional cardiovascular risk factors were associated with a coronary artery calcium (CAC) score > 0 (as a marker of the presence of early atherosclerosis) in a cohort of healthy Korean adults. METHOD: The study population consisted of individuals who underwent a comprehensive health examination in 2010 at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, College of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea. The 6009 subjects of total 7371 participants who had an assigned CAC score following coronary computed tomography (CT) scanning and baPWV were analyzed. RESULTS: Among the study subjects, 39.2% of the population had evidence of fatty liver by ultrasound and 4.6% of the population had evidence of CAC score > 0. Among individuals with a CAC score = 0, 38% of the individuals had fatty liver compared with 58% of the individuals with a CAC score > 0. The individuals with a CAC score > 0 also had higher blood pressure and had more metabolic abnormalities. The prevalence of CAC score > 0 was increased according to baPWV quartiles and was higher in the fatty liver group in comparison with those without fatty liver. The odds ratio for CAC score > 0, after adjusting for clinical risk factors, showed a significant elevation with increasing quartiles of baPWV and the presence of fatty liver. CONCLUSION: We showed that both fatty liver and baPWV are independently associated with the presence of CAC, a marker of preclinical atherosclerosis. These associations are independent of conventional risk factors and medical history.