Coronary artery calcification was common among apparently healthy adults, became more frequent and severe with time, and was associated with elevated levels of serum phosphorus, according to an analysis of data from a long-term population study.
At baseline, coronary artery calcification was present in 28% of participants in a long-term observational study, and six years later, new-onset calcification had developed in 33%, for an overall prevalence of 50% (P<0.001), according to Katherine R. Tuttle, MD, of Providence Medical Research Center in Spokane, Wash., and colleagues.
Among those with calcification at baseline, severity increased from a baseline median score of 38 density units to a score of 152 units at six years (P<0.001), the researchers reported online in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
The excess cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk associated with chronic kidney disease cannot be fully explained by traditional risk factors, the authors noted.
