Relationship between aortic calcification and stroke in a mass screening program using a mobile helical computed tomography unit.

Background: It is reported that there is a significant relationship between the calcification of the aortic arch detected by chest X-ray examination and stroke. However, the relationship between stroke and aortic calcification (AoC) detected during a mass screening using a mobile helical computed tomography (CT) unit remains unknown.

Methods And Results: The study population consisted of 2,618 subjects (1,345 men, and 1,273 women; mean age, 52.9+/-13.8 years) who participated in a mass CT screening for lung cancer and tuberculosis. In the present study, 28 subjects (18 men, and 10 women; mean age, 65.9+/-13.5 years) had a past history of cerebral infarction. There were no subjects with a past history of intracerebral or subarachnoid hemorrhage. The frequency of AoC was significantly higher in the infarction group who were older than 50 years of age. In logistic regression analysis, the AoC was a stronger contributor of infarction than sex, age, and risk factors. Furthermore, the odds ratio of AoC for subjects with a past history of infarction increased as the number of calcified segments increased, and these values were 1.82 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-3.15) in men, and 2.53 (95% CI 1.12-5.75) in women.

Conclusions: These results suggest that detection of AoC during mass chest screening using a mobile helical CT unit is an effective way to evaluate the risk of cerebral infarction.