Abstract 456: Is There a Relationship Between an Elevated Coronary Calcium Score and the Incidence of Kidney or Gallbladder Calculi

Abstract

Background: Elevated calcium score is a marker of increased risk in the development of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. It is unknown whether an elevated coronary artery calcium score is associated with extravascular calcium deposition in disease states such as nephrolithiasis and cholelithiasis. The aim of this study was to explore this relationship in asymptomatic patients who had elective coronary calcium scoring performed at the University of South Dakota Sanford Medical Center. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of data from 38,546 consecutive patients from the coronary calcium screening database. Patients with a history of calculi were identified using ICD-9 codes for calculus of kidney and ureter (592) and cholelithiasis (574). Cases were analyzed according to gender and age groups, and proportions calculated according to calcium score tertile. Results: The results are summarized in Table 1. Overall, the proportion of patients with calculi increases with each rise in the coronary artery calcium score. However, this relationship is best demonstrated in the elderly male and younger female populations. This relationship was further analyzed using a chi-square contrast test. The results, as described in Table 2, indicate that there is a significant relationship between elevated coronary calcium and likelihood of calculi conditions in young females (p=0.0040), however, the proportion in elderly males does not exhibit a statistical difference in proportion (p=0.1143). Conclusion: Elevated coronary artery calcium is associated with an increased likelihood of having a diagnosis of extravascular calculi development such as nephrolithiasis or cholelithiasis. Younger females appear to best demonstrate this relationship. Although the proportions are small, further studies are needed to substantiate a biochemical basis for this relationship.