Coronary artery calcification across ethnic groups in Singapore
Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore
;
: 432-436, 2013.
Article
in English
| WPRIM
| ID: wpr-305667
ABSTRACT
<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>In Singapore, the age-standardised event rates of myocardial infarction (MI) are 2- and 3-fold higher for Malays and Indians respectively compared to the Chinese. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence and quantity of coronary artery calcification (CAC) and non-calcified plaques across these 3 ethnic groups.</p><p><b>MATERIALS AND METHODS</b>This was a retrospective descriptive study. We identified 1041 patients (810 Chinese, 139 Malays, 92 Indians) without previous history of cardiovascular disease who underwent cardiac computed tomography for atypical chest pain evaluation. A cardiologist, who was blinded to the patients' clinical demographics, reviewed all scans. We retrospectively analysed all their case records.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Overall, Malays were most likely to be active smokers (P = 0.02), Indians had the highest prevalence of diabetes mellitus (P = 0.01) and Chinese had the highest mean age (P <0.0001). The overall prevalence of patients with non-calcified plaques as the only manifestation of sub-clinical coronary artery disease was 2.1%. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of CAC, mean CAC score or prevalence of non-calcified plaques among the 3 ethnic groups. Active smoking, age and hypertension were independent predictors of CAC. Non-calcified plaques were positively associated with male gender, age, dyslipidaemia and diabetes mellitus.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The higher MI rates in Malays and Indians in Singapore cannot be explained by any difference in CAC or non-calcified plaque. More research with prospective follow-up of larger patient populations is necessary to establish if ethnic-specific calibration of CAC measures is needed to adjust for differences among ethnic groups.</p>
Full text:
Available
Index:
WPRIM (Western Pacific)
Main subject:
Singapore
/
Coronary Artery Disease
/
Diagnostic Imaging
/
Smoking
/
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
/
Case-Control Studies
/
China
/
Epidemiology
/
Prevalence
/
Retrospective Studies
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
/
Prevalence study
/
Prognostic study
/
Risk factors
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore
Year:
2013
Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS