Clinical Research
Cardiac Imaging
Age- and Sex-Related Differences in All-Cause Mortality Risk Based on Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography Findings: Results From the International Multicenter CONFIRM (Coronary CT Angiography Evaluation for Clinical Outcomes: An International Multicenter Registry) of 23,854 Patients Without Known Coronary Artery Disease

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Objectives

We examined mortality in relation to coronary artery disease (CAD) as assessed by ≥64-detector row coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA).

Background

Although CCTA has demonstrated high diagnostic performance for detection and exclusion of obstructive CAD, the prognostic findings of CAD by CCTA have not, to date, been examined for age- and sex-specific outcomes.

Methods

We evaluated a consecutive cohort of 24,775 patients undergoing ≥64-detector row CCTA between 2005 and 2009 without known CAD who met inclusion criteria. In these patients, CAD by CCTA was defined as none (0% stenosis), mild (1% to 49% stenosis), moderate (50% to 69% stenosis), or severe (≥70% stenosis). CAD severity was judged on a per-patient, per-vessel, and per-segment basis. Time to mortality was estimated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models.

Results

At a 2.3 ± 1.1-year follow-up, 404 deaths had occurred. In risk-adjusted analysis, both per-patient obstructive (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.60; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.94 to 3.49; p < 0.0001) and nonobstructive (HR: 1.60; 95% CI: 1.18 to 2.16; p = 0.002) CAD conferred increased risk of mortality compared with patients without evident CAD. Incident mortality was associated with a dose-response relationship to the number of coronary vessels exhibiting obstructive CAD, with increasing risk observed for nonobstructive (HR: 1.62; 95% CI: 1.20 to 2.19; p = 0.002), obstructive 1-vessel (HR: 2.00; 95% CI: 1.43 to 2.82; p < 0.0001), 2-vessel (HR: 2.92; 95% CI: 2.00 to 4.25; p < 0.0001), or 3-vessel or left main (HR: 3.70; 95% CI: 2.58 to 5.29; p < 0.0001) CAD. Importantly, the absence of CAD by CCTA was associated with a low rate of incident death (annualized death rate: 0.28%). When stratified by age <65 years versus ≥65 years, younger patients experienced higher hazards for death for 2-vessel (HR: 4.00; 95% CI: 2.16 to 7.40; p < 0.0001 vs. HR: 2.46; 95% CI: 1.51 to 4.02; p = 0.0003) and 3-vessel (HR: 6.19; 95% CI: 3.43 to 11.2; p < 0.0001 vs. HR: 3.10; 95% CI: 1.95 to 4.92; p < 0.0001) CAD. The relative hazard for 3-vessel CAD (HR: 4.21; 95% CI: 2.47 to 7.18; p < 0.0001 vs. HR: 3.27; 95% CI: 1.96 to 5.45; p < 0.0001) was higher for women as compared with men.

Conclusions

Among individuals without known CAD, nonobstructive and obstructive CAD by CCTA are associated with higher rates of mortality, with risk profiles differing for age and sex. Importantly, absence of CAD is associated with a very favorable prognosis.

Key Words

atherosclerosis
computed tomography
coronary disease
nonobstructive
prognosis

Abbreviations and Acronyms

CAD
coronary artery disease
CCTA
coronary computed tomography angiography
CI
confidence interval
CT
computed tomography
D-F
Diamond-Forrester
HR
hazard ratio
LAD
left anterior descending artery
LCx
left circumflex artery
LM
left main artery
RCA
right coronary artery

Cited by (0)

Dr. Min received modest speakers' bureau and medical advisory board compensation and significant research support from GE Healthcare. Dr. Achenbach received grant support from Siemens and Bayer Schering Pharma and has served as a consultant for Servier. Dr. Al-Mallah received support from the American Heart Association, BCBS Foundation of Michigan, and Astellas. Dr. Budoff received modest speakers' bureau compensation from GE Healthcare. Dr. Cademartiri received grant support from GE Healthcare. Dr. Callister has served on the Speakers' Bureau of General Electric Healthcare. Dr. Chinnaiyan received grant support from Bayer Pharma and Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Care MI. Dr. Chow received research and fellowship support from GE Healthcare, research support from Pfizer and AstraZeneca, and educational support from TeraRecon. Dr. Hausleiter received a research grant from Siemens Medical Systems. Dr. Kaufmann received institutional research support from GE Healthcare and grant support from Swiss National Science Foundation. Dr. Maffei has served as a consultant to Servier and has received grant support from GE Healthcare. Dr. Raff received grant support from Siemens, Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Care MI, and Bayer Pharma. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.