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Autopsy studies suggest a strong correlation between calcification in the abdominal aorta and coronary atherosclerosis. Therefore, researchers correlated the degree of abdominal aortic calcification on lateral lumbar radiographs (obtained for other reasons) with risk for vascular events in 1049 men and 1466 women free of known cardiovascular disease (CVD) when enrolled in the Framingham Heart Study.
During more than 20 years of follow-up, 454 people developed coronary heart disease, 709 developed CVD, and 365 died from cardiovascular causes. After adjustment for known cardiac risk factors, relative risk for vascular events was higher in patients with more calcification: Compared with patients in the lowest tertile, those in the highest terti…