Adult height associates with angiographic extent of coronary artery disease.

Background And Aims: Shorter stature is an established risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD), but less is known about its association with extent of the disease.

Methods: We assessed the relationship between self-reported height and angiographic findings in 7706 men and 3572 women identified from a nationwide coronary angiography registry in Iceland.

Results: After adjustment for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, a standard deviation decrease in height associated with a greater likelihood of significant CAD (defined as ≥50% luminal diameter stenosis) both in men (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.24, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.18, 1.31; p = 3.2 × 10) and women (OR = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.18; p = 0.012). In partial proportional odds logistic regression models, a standard deviation decrease in height was associated with higher odds of having greater extent of CAD in men (OR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.15, 1.25; p = 1.5 × 10) and women (OR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.16; p = 0.014). When limited to patients with significant CAD, the association was statistically significant in men (OR = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.14; p = 0.0022) but not in women (p = 0.56).

Conclusions: Our findings show that shorter stature is associated with greater extent of coronary atherosclerosis in a large unselected population of individuals undergoing coronary angiography. This relationship appears to be sex-dependent, with stronger effects in men than in women.