Article Impact Level: HIGH Data Quality: STRONG Summary of Clinical Cardiology, 46(10), 1260–1267. https://doi.org/10.1002/clc.24087 Dr. Yan Li et al.
Points
- The study investigates the correlation between cardiovascular risk levels and subclinical atherosclerosis in individuals without ASCVD history.
- Using Framingham and China-par risk models, BaPWV and BFMD were measured in 421 subjects categorized into low, moderate, and high-risk groups.
- The incidence of abnormal BaPWV and BFMD increases with higher risk levels determined by both models.
- Age and blood pressure were identified as independent predictors for subclinical atherosclerosis in low to moderate-risk subjects.
- Findings suggest that over half of low to moderate-risk individuals exhibit detectable subclinical atherosclerosis, highlighting potential underestimation of cardiovascular risk.
Summary
The study investigates the correlation between cardiovascular risk levels and subclinical atherosclerosis in individuals without a prior atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) history. Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (BaPWV) and brachial flow-mediated dilation (BFMD) were measured in 421 subjects over four years. The Framingham and China-par risk models categorized participants into low, moderate, and high-risk groups.
Results reveal that the incidence of abnormal BaPWV and BFMD increased with escalating risk levels determined by both risk models. Specifically, the abnormal BaPWV and BFMD percentages were consistently higher in subjects classified as high-risk than those in low and moderate-risk categories. Moreover, the positive predictive values (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) for BaPWV and BFMD abnormalities varied across risk categories, indicating varying predictive accuracies.
Furthermore, multivariate analysis identified age and blood pressure as independent predictors for subclinical atherosclerosis in subjects with low to moderate risk. The findings suggest that over half of individuals classified as low or moderate risk based on traditional cardiovascular risk stratification exhibit detectable subclinical atherosclerosis, highlighting a potentially underestimated cardiovascular risk beyond conventional risk assessment methods. These results underscore the importance of incorporating subclinical atherosclerotic indicators into cardiovascular risk assessment protocols for more accurate risk stratification and targeted preventive interventions.
Link to the article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/clc.24087
References Li, Y., Zhang, Y., Xiao, K., Si, J., Zhang, H., Sun, L., Miao, Z., Zhao, T., Sun, J., Sun, X., Liu, Z., Gao, J., Zhao, J., Chu, X., & Li, J. (2023). The incidence of subclinical atherosclerosis in subjects with low and moderate cardiovascular risk. Clinical Cardiology, 46(10), 1260–1267. https://doi.org/10.1002/clc.24087
