TY - JOUR
T1 - Tortuosity of the left anterior descending artery is associated with hypertension and is not independently related to physical performance
T2 - A cardiac computed tomography study
AU - Sharfo, Alaa
AU - Wandall-Holm, Malthe Faurschou
AU - Linde, Jesper James
AU - Hæsum, Ida
AU - Graversen, Peter Laursen
AU - Kofoed, Klaus Fuglsang
AU - Hove, Jens Dahlgaard
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Scandinavian Society of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Background: Coronary tortuosity (CorT) is frequently observed in invasive angiography, though its aetiology and clinical significance remain ambiguous. Prior research has indicated possible links between CorT and factors such as hypertension, age, and calcium scores in the left anterior descending (LAD) artery. The aim of this study was to examine and optimize the usage of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) with vessel tracking to explore these associations. Methods: Observational sub-study of the single centre randomised controlled CATCH-trial. From the original study 600 participants, who underwent CCTA, 250 were randomly selected. Clinical data and patient risk factors were sourced from medical records and structured interviews. Tortuosity of the LAD was quantified by calculating the ratio of the actual vessel-length to the straight-line distance. Results: The final study population comprised 194 patients (56 patients were excluded due to poor image quality or inability to perform adequate vessel tracking). After adjusting for confounding variables, tortuosity was significantly associated with hypertension (p < 0.001), female gender (p = 0.01), and increasing age (p = 0.045). No significant correlation was observed between CorT and calcium scores. Univariate analysis indicated that higher CorT levels were linked to lower metabolic equivalents of task (METs) in bicycle tests (p = 0.003); however, this relationship became nonsignificant (p = 0.97) upon adjustment for age, gender, and hypertension. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that increased CorT is most prevalent in patients with hypertension, advancing age, and female gender. Although higher tortuosity levels did not significantly impact METs during physical activity, further research is warranted to explore the underlying mechanisms of this relationship.
AB - Background: Coronary tortuosity (CorT) is frequently observed in invasive angiography, though its aetiology and clinical significance remain ambiguous. Prior research has indicated possible links between CorT and factors such as hypertension, age, and calcium scores in the left anterior descending (LAD) artery. The aim of this study was to examine and optimize the usage of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) with vessel tracking to explore these associations. Methods: Observational sub-study of the single centre randomised controlled CATCH-trial. From the original study 600 participants, who underwent CCTA, 250 were randomly selected. Clinical data and patient risk factors were sourced from medical records and structured interviews. Tortuosity of the LAD was quantified by calculating the ratio of the actual vessel-length to the straight-line distance. Results: The final study population comprised 194 patients (56 patients were excluded due to poor image quality or inability to perform adequate vessel tracking). After adjusting for confounding variables, tortuosity was significantly associated with hypertension (p < 0.001), female gender (p = 0.01), and increasing age (p = 0.045). No significant correlation was observed between CorT and calcium scores. Univariate analysis indicated that higher CorT levels were linked to lower metabolic equivalents of task (METs) in bicycle tests (p = 0.003); however, this relationship became nonsignificant (p = 0.97) upon adjustment for age, gender, and hypertension. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that increased CorT is most prevalent in patients with hypertension, advancing age, and female gender. Although higher tortuosity levels did not significantly impact METs during physical activity, further research is warranted to explore the underlying mechanisms of this relationship.
KW - calcium score
KW - coronary artery tortuosity
KW - coronary CT angiography
U2 - 10.1111/cpf.12900
DO - 10.1111/cpf.12900
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 39210716
AN - SCOPUS:85202886697
VL - 44
SP - 463
EP - 470
JO - Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging
JF - Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging
SN - 1475-0961
IS - 6
ER -