The association between low bone mineral density and coronary artery calcification in osteoporotic and non-osteoporotic patients in a tertiary center in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and osteoporosis are major health-care concerns worldwide. The evidence is contradictory on whether a relationship exists between low bone mineral density (BMD) determined by dual-energy absorptiometry (DXA scan) and coronary artery calcification (CAC) measured by computed tomography. Currently, there are no data on patients from Saudi Arabia. OBJECTIVE: Examine the relationship between CAC and BMD in both genders and study the influence of traditional coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors and osteoporosis. DESIGN: Retrospective, cross-sectional, analytical. SETTING: Single tertiary care center. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We searched radiology databases for patients who underwent both DXA and CAC score scanning within six months of each other. The inclusion criterion was an absence of any history of CAD. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Association between osteoporosis and CAC. SAMPLE SIZE: 195 (34 osteoporosic, 161 normal BMD or osteopenic) RESULTS: Most of the study population (57.4%) were females. The mean age of all patients was 63.6 (10.1) years. Participants with CAC scores of 0 were significantly younger than those who had CAC scores >0. The presence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia was higher in patients with CAC scores >0. CAC score and other CAD risk factors were not significantly different between the osteoporotic and nonosteoporotic groups, except for body mass index. A high CAC score (>100) was present in 28%, 20%, 11%, and 30% of participants with no osteoporosis, osteoporosis of the lumbar spine, osteoporosis of the femoral neck, and participants with osteoporosis of both the lumbar spine and femoral neck, respectively (P=.762), suggesting there is no association between CAC and the presence of osteoporosis. CONCLUSIONS: Osteoporosis is not associated with higher CAC scores in Saudi Arabia and CAD risk factors are not significantly prevalent in osteoporosis. It appears that CAC and osteoporosis are independent age-related diseases that share common risk factors. LIMITATIONS: Single-center, retrospective. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None.