Effect of obesity on coronary artery plaque using 64 slice multidetector cardiac computed tomography angiography

Patients with a coronary artery calcification score (CACS) of zero and an intermediate risk of coronary artery disease have been shown to have a low prevalence of non-calcified coronary artery plaque (NCP). 181 consecutive patients with CAC 'zero', undergoing cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA) angiography at our center were evaluated. Presence of detectable NCP on CCTA in these patients was 13.8%. Mild non-obstructive disease (<30% and limited to one segment) was present in 76% of patients while only one patient (0.6%) had significant stenosis (>50%). Traditional risk factors were not found to be associated with the presence of NCP. However higher body mass index (BMI) was strongly found to be associated with NCP (31.6 in patients with NCP vs. 27.6 kg/m² in patients without NCP, p<.05). Obesity was 2.76 times more likely to be associated with NCP as compared to normal BMI (p<0.05).