[Coronary artery calcification score measured by electron beam computed tomography for evaluation of ischemic heart disease in Japanese].

The objective of this study was to assess the usefulness of coronary artery calcification score(CACS) as measured by electron beam computed tomography(EBT) for evaluating coronary artery disease(CAD) in the Japanese population. The study included 513 consecutive patients(384 men and 129 women). All patients underwent EBT, and CACS was calculated. A total of 346 of 379 patients were diagnosed with CAD by coronary arteriography(> 50% stenosis), and 33 had previous myocardial infarction. CAD was ruled out in the other 134 patients. All subjects were divided into 8 groups according to age (years) (I: up to and including 49, II: 50-59, III: 60-69, IV: 70 and over) and gender. There were significant differences in mean CACS between CAD patients and non-CAD patients in all age groups(p < 0.01). Receiver operating characteristic(ROC) analysis was performed. Cut-off points, obtained by the area under the curve, ranging from 0.75 to 0.95 were determined as useful for the diagnosis of CAD. According to ROC analysis, the corresponding scores of the cut-off point for each group were calculated to be as follows: 80% sensitivity(men: 6, 15, 104, 318; women: 0.1, 6, 118, 196), 90% sensitivity(men: 1, 2, 39, 107; women: 0.1, 0.1, 11, 42), 90% specificity(men: 24, 430, 602, 658; women; 13, 2, 118, 416). These cut-off points for CACS may be useful in the diagnosis of CAD in the Japanese population.