The impact of the menopause on coronary artery calcification examined by multislice computed tomography scanning

Hsu, Chung-Hua; Chang, Steve G.N.; Hwang, Kung-Chang; Kuo, Chang-Feng; Chang, Hen-Hong; Chou, P.H. Pesus

doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2006.11.005

« Previous Next »Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases
Volume 18, Issue 4 , Pages 306-313, May 2008

The impact of the menopause on coronary artery calcification examined by multislice computed tomography scanning

Chung-Hua Hsu
- Community Medicine Research Center and Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, 155 Li-Nong Street, Sec. 2, Peitou, Taipei, Taiwan
- Department of Chinese Medicine, Taipei Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
Steve G.N. Chang
- Department of Radiology, Taipei Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
Kung-Chang Hwang
- Department of Pediatrics, Taipei Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
Chang-Feng Kuo
- Department of Internal Medicine, Taipei Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
Hen-Hong Chang
- Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Graduate Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taipei, Taiwan
P.H. Pesus Chou
- Community Medicine Research Center and Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, 155 Li-Nong Street, Sec. 2, Peitou, Taipei, Taiwan
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 2 2826 7050; fax: +886 2 2820 1461.

Received 23 May 2006; received in revised form 7 November 2006; accepted 20 November 2006. published online 14 April 2007.

Abstract

Background and aims

To examine whether there is a difference in coronary artery calcification (CAC) scores between males and females aged above 50years.

Methods and results

A total of 479 subjects aged between 40 and 70years with no clinical or family history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) were enrolled for this study. All subjects were assessed by multislice CT scanning (MCTS), and the CAC scores obtained were assigned to one of four quartiles for further assessment and comparison. The main outcome evaluated was the percentage of high CAC scores and mean CAC scores, comparing males and females of different age groups.

This study found that the percentage of high CAC scores increased markedly from 5% (40–49 age group) to 21.2% (50–59 age group) among females. The increase was significantly less when comparing males from different age groups (from 25% in the 40–49 age group to 31.2% in the 50–59 age group). Females had higher odds ratios (ORs) postmenopausally (4.3 in the 50–59 age group) than males in the same age group (1.6).

Conclusions

These initial findings seem to indicate that above 50years of age, CAC is more dependent on age in females than in males, which might be due to the effect of the menopause.

Keywords: Postmenopause, Coronary artery calcification, Multislice computed tomography scan