[Predictive value of coronary artery calcification in coronary artery stenosis]

Early diagnosis of CAD could lead to proper treatment of patients and coronary artery calcification is considered to be a valuable index in detecting coronary artery disease using a noninvasive technique. To evaluate the relation between calcification and stenosis of coronary artery. This was a cross sectional study in which 760 patients suffering from typical chest pain and as candidates for coronary angiography were evaluated for calcification of coronary artery by fluoroscopy. All patients signed a consent form while the whole procedures were fully explained in comprehensible language. Following fluoroscopy and angiography, the results were reviewed by two different cardiologists, separately. The presence of any significant stenosis greater than 75% was considered as a sign for severe CAD. The data were analyzed by x[2] followed by determination of sensitivity and specificity. Abnormal angiogram was found in 402 cases of our patients. In general, the positive and negative predictive values for calcification were 81.8% and 26%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 87.1% and 63.4% in females and 79.7 and 47.3% in males respectively. The highest predictive value was seen in patients below 40 years old [100%]. Coronary calcification in patients with abnormal coronary angiogram was found to be 5.4 times higher than those with normal angiogram. According to our results, the noninvasive fluoroscopic technique for detection of coronary artery calcification could be regarded as a screening tool to reveal significant coronary involvement