Coronary Risk Factors in Patients with Coronary Artery Ectasia : A Case-Control Study from Iran

Javad Ramezani¹ , Toktam Moghiman² , Farahzad Jabbari Azad^3*, Ghazal Ghasemi⁴, Mahnaz Ahmadi⁵  and Mahmood M. Shabestari¹

¹Fellowship of Interventional Cardiology, Atherosclerosis Prevention Research Center, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. ²MD. PhD Student, Atherosclerosis Prevention Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. ³MD. Associate Professor of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Allergy Research Center, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. ⁴MD. Resident of Gynecology, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. ⁵MD. Assistant Professor of Cardiology, Atherosclerosis Prevention Research Center, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bbra/2047

ABSTRACT: Coronary artery ectasia is a rare finding in angiography. We investigated the prevalence of coronary artery ectasia and assessed cardiovascular risk factors as probable influencing factors in this disease in our region. This study was conducted from October 2007 to March 2010 on 2500 patients visiting Imam Reza and Qaem and Razavi hospitals, Mashhad, Iran who had chest pain and were selected for angiographic studies. The study was based on reviewing angiographic films besides filling in questionnaires. 103 coronary artery ectasia cases showing 4% prevalence for this kind of coronary involvement were selected as the study group and compared with 62 patients with atherosclerosis and no ectasia as the control group. Mean age of the study and control group was 57.6 and 54.1yrs, respectively indicating a statistically significant difference (p=0.032). The study and control groups showed no significant difference based on sex, smoking history and mean Body Mass Index (BMI). However, a BMI above 25 had a significantly higher prevalence in the study group (p=0.036). Mean hs-CRP and homocystein levels were 3.4 and 11.8 in the study group and 2.3 and 8.3 in the control group, respectively, both revealing a significant difference (p=0.002, p<0.001). Hyperlipidemia in ectasia patients in comparison to controls was significantly more prevalent (p=0.001). The prevalence of coronary artery ectasia was 4% and cardiovascular risk factors in ectasia cases included: hyperlipidemia, high hs-CRP, and homocystein.

KEYWORDS: Ectasia; Angiography; Coronary Artery Disease; Risk factors

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