Science and Research

GOLD stage predicts thoracic aortic calcifications in patients with COPD

Although some of the associations between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and atherosclerosis are based on shared risk factors such as smoking, recent epidemiological evidence suggests that COPD is a risk factor for vascular disease due to systemic inflammation. The present study assessed the hypothesis that disease severity (as expressed by the GOLD stage) independently predicts the extent of vascular calcifications. A total of 160 smokers diagnosed with COPD (GOLD I-IV, 40 subjects of each GOLD stage) and 40 smokers at risk (GOLD 0; median age of 60 years old; Q1:56;Q3:65; 135 males and 65 females) underwent non-contrast, non-electrocardiography synchronized chest computerised tomography. The volume of thoracic aortic calcifications was quantified semi-automatically within a region from T1 through T12. Multiparametric associations with GOLD stage, smoking history, sex, age, body mass index and emphysema index were evaluated using generalized linear regression analysis. Thoracic aortic calcifications were highly prevalent in this cohort (187/200 subjects, 709 (Q1:109;Q3:2163) mm(3)). Analysis of variance on ranks demonstrated a significant difference in calcium between different GOLD-stages as well as patients at risk of COPD (F=36.8, P<0.001). In the multivariable analysis, GOLD-stages were indicated to be predictive of thoracic aortic calcifications (P
  • Jobst, B. J.
  • Owsijewitsch, M.
  • Kauczor, H. U.
  • Biederer, J.
  • Ley, S.
  • Becker, N.
  • Kopp-Schneider, A.
  • Delorme, S.
  • Heussel, C. P.
  • Puderbach, M.
  • Wielputz, M. O.
  • Ley-Zaporozhan, J.
  • Keywords

    • aortic diseases
    • atherosclerotic plaques
    • chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
    • inflammation
    • multidetector-row computed tomography
    • pulmonary emphysema
    Publication details
    DOI: 10.3892/etm.2018.7039
    Journal: Experimental and therapeutic medicine
    Pages: 967-973 
    Number: 1
    Work Type: Original
    Location: TLRC
    Disease Area: COPD
    Partner / Member: DKFZ, UKHD
    Access-Number: 30651888
    See publication on PubMed

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