Coronary Artery Disease in an Asymptomatic Population Undergoing a Multidetector Computed Tomography (MDCT) Coronary Angiography

To assess the prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) in asymptomatic subjects using multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and its relationships to demographic and clinical risk factors.

We enrolled consecutive asymptomatic volunteers with no evidence of ischemic heart disease that underwent MDCT for the early detection of CAD. All MDCT findings were correlated with demographic and risk factors. A total of 2820 coro-nary segments were analyzed in 188 asymptomatic subjects (150 males and 38 females), aged 54.4 ± 7.4 years.

A total of 128 (68%) demonstrated MDCT findings compatible with CAD; of these 111 (86.7%) had non-significant (diameter stenosis ≤ 50%) and 17 (13.3%) had significant CAD (diameter stenosis ≥ 50%). Compared with older subjects (mean age 56±8 years), younger subjects had a lower prevalence of MDCT findings of CAD 55.5% vs. 12.5%, respectively (P<0.001), regardless of risk factors. Males had more CAD (mostly non-significant) compared with females (109 [72.7%] vs. 19 [50.3%], respectively; P= 0.007). Subjects with ≥ 2 risk factors had a higher prevalence of CAD in general and significant CAD in particular (P<0.001).

CAD in asymptomatic population seems to be not uncommon. Using MDCT a high prevalence of non-significant and low prevalence of significant CAD was discovered in middle age asymptomatic population.