Unraveling the genetic basis of subclinical atherosclerosis: Early genetic detection can improve cardiovascular prevention.

Introduction And Objectives: Decoding the genetic basis of coronary artery disease (CAD) through an intermediate phenotype - coronary calcification - can help us to better understand this deadly disease and enable the creation of better therapeutic strategies. This work aims to assess the relationship between a set of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) previously associated with CAD and coronary artery calcium (CAC) score in a Portuguese asymptomatic population.

Methods: A prospective study was conducted in a cohort of 1284 subjects (aged 59.