Coronary Atherosclerosis in African American and White Patients with Acute Chest Pain: Characterization with Coronary CT Angiography

Abstract

Study results suggest that atherosclerotic plaque burden and composition, as measured by using coronary CT angiography, differ between African American and white patients, with relatively more noncalcified disease in African Americans and more calcified disease in white individuals. Further research is warranted to determine whether CT plaque characterization can improve cardiac risk prediction in African Americans.

Comparison of Racial Differences in Plaque Composition and Stenosis Between HIV-Positive and HIV-Negative Men from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study

“…After adjustment for CAD risk factors, they also found a lower prevalence of calcified plaque in black patients. 25 However, unlike our study, they found that black patients had an increased prevalence and extent of non-calcified plaque. There were no significant ethnic differences in the prevalence or extent of overall plaque burden, stenosis greater than 50%, or mixed plaque.…”

Cholesterol efflux capacity in humans with psoriasis is inversely related to non-calcified burden of coronary atherosclerosis

“…Others have found this non-calcified plaque to be the culprit lesions in acute coronary syndromes. 13,14 Therefore, in the context of our study, there is strong biological plausibility for observing a relationship between CEC and NCB; psoriasis is associated with both increased future CV events and impaired HDL function, and our findings suggest that this may be due to predisposition towards formation of non-calcified plaque.…”

Neutrophil subsets and their gene signature associate with vascular inflammation and coronary atherosclerosis in lupus

“…The main findings of this study include the identification that circulating LDG numbers and an LDG-driven gene signature, but not the FRS, significantly and independently associate with vascular inflammation and dysfunction and coronary NCB. This is particularly relevant because NCB predicts prospective CV events and is associated with high-risk plaque features in patients with and without inflammatory conditions (38)(39)(40). It is important to emphasize that FRS associated with calcified plaque burden did not associate with NCB, supporting that immune dysregulation and, specifically, neutrophil responses may be key drivers of vulnerable plaque, thus enhancing the risk of major cardiac adverse events.…”