Echocardiographic Calcium Score and Aortic Stiffness as Predictive Indicators of Coronary Artery Disease Severity: A Single Egyptian Center Experience

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a pre-dominant cause of mortality globally. Invasive conventional coronary angiography (CCA) is the definitive method for diag-nosing and determining the optimal treatment for people with CAD. Nonetheless, certain initiatives have been undertaken to forecast the severity and complexity of CAD by non-invasive techniques, aiming to identify individuals at elevated risk for cardiovascular events with reduced patient risk prior to doing CA. The characterization of coronary artery calcification via computed tomography, referred to as the Coronary Artery Cal-cium Score (CACS), is established as equivalent to the total burden of coronary atherosclerosis and the presence of angi-ographically relevant lesions. The echocardiographic calcium score (CS) is now confirmed against non-coronary calcium via computed tomography, offering a cost-effective solution with-out irradiation safety concerns for cardiac risk categorization. Aim of Study: To determine the relationship between echo-cardiographic calcium score and aortic stiffness in relation to the severity of CAD. Patients and Methods: Patients presenting to Ain Shams University Hospitals for elective CA underwent history taking, physical examination, blood sampling, and echocardiographic assessment. The calculated echocardiographic CS and assessed aortic stiffness were correlated with their coronary angiography images. Results: The study included 45 patients. The mean final CS of the entire study cohort was 4.95±1.29. The mean aortic dis-tensibility was 0.0044±0.0029. The mean Syntax score of the entire study cohort was 22.88±12.3. A highly substantial dis-crepancy existed between the numerical values of the Syntax score and the final CS. A small negative yet significant corre-lation existed between the numerical value of the Syntax score and aortic distensibility. Conclusion: The echocardiographic calcium score corre-lates with the severity of CAD. The correlation between aor-tic stiffness assessed via echocardiography and the severity of coronary artery disease requires additional investigation. The affordability, accessibility, and radiation-free characteristics of echocardiography render it a compelling option among non-in-vasive methods for predicting CAD.