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Summary: This article aims to study the prevalence of coronary artery calcification and associated factors in a multiethnic population in Angola.Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional observational study was carried out in a private clinic in Angola. For this purpose, information was collected from sociodemographic and biological data. The selected variables were; history of arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking (current and past), alcohol consumption, family history of coronary disease, and coronary calcium score. Independent Mann-Whitney test, Student's t-test and chi-square test were used as appropriate. Results: The sample consisted of 211 individuals: 156(73.9%) of black race, 37(17.4%) of mixed race and 18(8.4%) of Caucasian race. 126(59.7%) were male. The average age was 56.7±9.3 years. Of the total sample, 158 (74.9%) had a history of hypertension, 50 (23.7%) of diabetes mellitus, and 138 (65.4%) of dyslipidemia. Of the total number of individuals, 21(10.0%) were smokers and 38(18.0%) were ex-smokers, 137 (64.9%) were social drinkers and 44(20.9%) were obese. A significant association was found between calcification of the coronary arteries and aging (p <.001), Caucasian race (p =.037), and a history of diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and smoking (p <.001, p <.001, p =.012, respectively). Black race and female gender are associated with a lower risk of coronary artery calcification (p =.034 and p=.011, respectively).Conclusion: The present results support the notion that there are racial and ethnic differences in the prevalence of coronary calcification.

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The present article describes the prevalence of coronary artery anomalies (CAAs) in patients undergoing coronary CT angiography at a private clinic in Luanda, Angola, and the clinical and angiotomographic characteristics of the two patients with CAAs. These anomalies are uncommon and constitute a significant challenge in resource‐poor countries.

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In Angola, coronary artery disease (CAD) has increased in prevalence in recent years. This study aims to evaluate the additional value of the coronary calcium score (CCS) to conventional risk factors (CRF) in predicting the presence of CAD. Results: This study comprises 204 patients. The mean age was 56.46±9.19 years. 123(60.3%) patients are male. The patients with CAD are older (mean age 56.00±9,4 years vs. 59.83±6.8 years, p=0.017), had higher proportion of men [20(83.3%) vs. 103(57.2), p=0.014], diabetes [10(41.7%) vs. 37(20.6%), p=0.021], dyslipidemia [23(95.8%) vs. 108(60.0%], p=0.001) smoking in the past, [9(37.5%) vs 27(15.0%), p=0.007], higher number of risk factors (NRF) (p 0.001), and higher Agatston CCS (p<0.001). A logistic regression was performed to ascertain the effect age CRF, NRF, and CCS on the likelihood that participants have CAD. Based on the Backward conditional method after step 5, we identified that NFR and CCS variables added statistically significantly to the prediction (p<0.05). We identified increasing NFR (B= 0.583, Wald 5.086; OR 1.791: p=0-0024 95%CI =1.07-2.97) and CCS (B= 0.016, Wald 30.951; OR 1.016: p<0.001 95% CI =1.01-1.02) were associated with an increased likelihood of exhibiting significant CAD. Conclusion: The NRF and the CCS proved to be strong predictors of CAD.

Coronary artery calcium is a component of atherosclerosis and a marker for the presence of coronary artery disease (CAD). It can be quantified based on non-contrast computed tomography (CT) using coronary calcium score (CCS) according to the Agatston method. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of CAD in a population with a zero CCS, using 64-slice CT in Angola. A total of 204 patients were included in the study. Of the total sample, 60.3% of the patients were male. The mean age was 56.46±9.19 years. The mean CCS of the cohort was 44.4±117(range, 0–889). Among 204 patients, CCS was zero in 136 (66.7%) patients, and 68 (33.3%) patients had a CCS ≥1. Compared to CCS ≥1, patients with CCS=0 were younger (age 54.7±9.3 years vs. 59.9±7.9 years, p <0.001) and the proportion of women was significantly higher (47.1% vs. 25.0%, p 0.002). Patients with CCS zero had also less history of diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and smoking in the past. Of the 136 patients with CCS=0, one (0.7%) had obstructive CAD, and 16 (11.8%) had non-obstructive CAD. Our results suggest that the absence of calcium was associated with a very low probability of significant stenosis of the coronary arteries.