Predictive Factors of the Presence and Number of Noncalcified Coronary Plaque in Japanese Patients with Zero Coronary Artery Calcium Score Using 64-Slice Multi-Detector Computed Tomography

Copyright © 2013 Yoshiki Noda et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background: Factors that can predict the presence and number of noncalcified coronary plaques (NCP) in Japanese patients with zero coronary artery calcium scores (CACS) essentially remain undefined. Methods and Results: We assessed independent predictors of the presence and number of segments with NCP in 111 Japanese patients with zero CACS who underwent 64-slice multi-detector computed tomography at our hospital. Thirty five patients (32%) had NCP, and 24 patients (22%) had ≥ 2 NCPs. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that significant predictors for the presence of NCP were age (odds ratio [OR]: 1.06, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.01- 1.11, p = 0.021), male (OR: 3.61, 95 % CI 1.40- 9.35, p = 0.008) and diabetes mellitus (OR: 3.10, 95 % CI 1.02- 9.45, p = 0.046), and those for the presence of ≥ 2 NCPs were age (OR: 1.08, 95 % CI 1.02- 1.15, p = 0.007) and a current smoking habit (OR: 5.09, 95% CI 1.00- 25.74, p = 0.049). Multiple linear regression analysis identified advanced age, male gender and diabetes mel-litus as independent predictors of the number of NCPs. A novel score calculated from the above four predictors showed moderate accuracy for a diagnosis of NCP and ≥ 2 NCPs, with areas under receiver operating curves of 0.738 and 0.736, respectively. Conclusions: Male Japanese patients with zero CACS, advanced age, diabetes mellitus and a curren