Correlations Between Severity of Coronary Calcification and Impairment of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction

Introduction: 64 multislice CT angiography is a recently introduced imaging technique, increasingly being used as a tool to show the coronary arteries in three-dimensional visualization. One of the advantages of this method is the ability to estimate the degree of calcification of atheromatous plaques via coronary calcium score calculation, which correlates with the severity score of ateromatous systemic burden. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the severity of coronary calcification, expressed by calcium score, and the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).
Material and methods: This retrospective study included 81 patients with symptoms of angina and ECG modifications (at rest or during exercise). Echocardiography and 64 multislice CT angiography were performed in all patients to assess the LVEF and Ca scoring.
Results: Calcium score was lower than 100 in 62 patients (50.22%), between 100 and 400 in 11 patients (8.91%), and higher than 400 in 8 patients (6.48%). Mean LVEF was 53.52%, 17 patients having an LVEF of less than 50%. In patients with calcium score less than 100, the corresponding ejection fraction was normal: 55.29%, while in coronary arteries with extensive calcifications (calcium score > 400), the LVEF was significantly lower, 50.5% (p = 0.004).
Conclusions: High Calcium score is positively correlated with LVEF reduction, and a high value for calcium score indicates an increased probability of reduced left ventricular ejection fraction.