Relation of coronary atherosclerosis and metabolic syndrome in asymptomatic subjects: evaluation with coronary CT angiography

To assess the relationship between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and coronary atherosclerosis using coronary CT angiography (CCTA) as the evaluation tool in asymptomatic cardiovascular disease (CVD) free subjects. The presence and extent of coronary atherosclerosis in 755 asymptomatic self-referred subjects were measured using CCTA. The relationships between coronary atherosclerosis, MetS, and other clinical factors were assessed. To further investigate the relationship between MetS and the presence and extent of coronary plaque, subjects were divided into 3 subgroups according to the number of metabolic factors (MF0, 1–2 or ≥3) and the number of coronary segments with plaque (segment involvement score: SIS0, 1, ≥2). MetS showed significant association with the presence of coronary plaque after adjustment for other clinical factors [odds radio (OR) 1.791 (1.159–2.775), P = 0.009]. Among metabolic components, abdominal obesity and high blood pressure were significantly associated with the presence of coronary plaque [OR 1.708 (1.189–2.455), P = 0.004; OR 1.677 (1.165–2.415), P = 0.005]. Coronary plaque was more frequently found in subgroups with a higher number of metabolic factors (32.4, 36.7 and 52.1 %). Higher SISs were also found in subjects with more MetS components (SIS1: 14.6, 16.2 and 27.2 %; SIS ≥ 2: 17, 19.7 and 23.7 %). In asymptomatic CVD free subjects, MetS and number of metabolic factors were related with an increased risk of the presence and the extent of coronary plaque. Abdominal obesity and high blood pressure were significantly associated with the presence of coronary plaque.