effect of multiple risk factors on the severity of coronary artery blockage among the patients who had undergone angiography in the cardiology unit of JHL

ABSTRACT

Coronary artery disease [CAD] is the leading cause of mortality in the elderly. Traditional cardiovascular risk factors [CVRFs] such as advancing age, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking, obesity, and family history of CAD are well recognized for their association with clinical events and acute coronary syndromes; however, the correlation between CVRFs and atherosclerotic burden, assessed angiographically, is not as well established, with the studies reporting variable and inconsistent results. To study the effect of multiple risk factors on the severity of coronary artery blockage among the patients who had undergone angiography. A Descriptive Cross Sectional Study. This study was carried out at Cardiac unit Jinnah Hospital Lahore from May 2010 to July 2010. The study included 120 patients undergoing angiography and were assessed for severity of risk factors. Cross tabulation was performed with dependent variable, severity of coronary artery disease and independent variables like familial tendency, smoking, Diabetes, hypertension, obesity and high cholesterol level. Chi square test was applied to see statistical significance. severity of coronary artery disease was assessed by number of coronary vessels involved. Vessels with more than 50% blockage on angiography were labeled as blockade. Among them 42% of the subjects had one vessel involved and 78% of the subjects had more than one vessel involved. Mean age of subject were 53.0 yrs with SD + 11.7. 76.7% were male and 23.3% were female. 49.2% had familial history of Coronary artery disease 66.7% were smokers. 38.3% of subjects had diabetes mellitus. 68.3% of the subjects had hypertension. 37.5% of the subjects were overweight. 17.5% of the subjects had cholesterol level > 250 mg/dl 75.8% of the subjects had a proximal blockade, 20.0% had a distal blockage and 4.2% had both proximal and distal blockage. Smoking, duration of smoking, number of cigarettes smoked per day and obesity are positively associated with severity of coronary artery disease and are statistically significant [P<.05]. While high cholesterol level, diabetes and Hypertension had a non-significant relationship in our study. There is a significant association between the severity of risk factors and the severity of coronary artery disease. The association of Smoking, duration of smoking, number of cigarettes smoked per day and obesity with severity of coronary artery disease is statistically significant [P<.05]