Serum calcium levels are independently associated with severe coronary artery stenosis combined with severe cerebral artery stenosis

INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular illnesses typically coexist clinically, resulting in increased rates of disability and fatality. Current clinical research on the link between albumin-corrected calcium (Ca) and the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disorders is contentious. To address a void in this study field, we intend to investigate the relationship between Ca and severe coronary artery stenosis (Degree of vascular stenosis ≥ 70%) coexisting with severe cerebral artery stenosis (Degree of vascular stenosis ≥ 70%) (SCSC). METHODS: This single-center retrospective study enrolled 197 symptomatic patients with ischemic Cardio-CerebroVascular comorbidities. After preprocessing the data, we employed elastic net regression to automatically select the most informative variables from the large dataset. Stable variables were incorporated into a multivariate logistic regression model to determine their statistical significance and effect size. Variables demonstrating statistical significance were chosen as core variables for incremental value analysis based on traditional risk factor models. Finally, to assess potential nonlinear relationships, generalized correlation models were applied to all continuous variables, and dose-response curves were fitted for statistically significant variables. RESULTS: SCSC is commonly observed in patients with symptomatic ischemic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications (36.04%). Significant associations exist between Ca, international normalized ratio, monocytes, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol with SCSC. Among these, Ca exhibits the strongest and most stable association with SCSC (selection frequency = 99.51%; OR = 2.21; 95% CI: 1.34-3.64; p = 0.002). Ca also contributes the greatest incremental value to the baseline model (∆AUC = -0.040, ∆Birer = -0.017). After controlling for traditional risk factors and serum phosphorus, renal function, and lipid profile indicators that may influence Ca levels, the relationship between Ca and SCSC remained statistically significant (OR = 2.12; 95% CI: 1.27-3.56; p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: There may be a close relationship between Ca and SCSC, but further research is needed to confirm whether a causal association exists.