Prevalence and features of coronary ectasia: an angiographic study.

BACKGROUND

In the morphology of coronary arteries, changes such as atherosclerosis and ectasia occur over time. The aim of this study is to identify the factors influencing changes in coronary artery morphology.

METHODS

One hundred twenty-seven patients were evaluated of their baseline characteristics, echocardiography findings, laboratory values, and screening for systemical diseases. Patients were divided into three groups. Group N: the group with normal coronary arteries. Group A: the group with atherosclerosis. Group E: the group with ectasia and/or aneurysm. Mann-Whitney U Test and Kruskal Wallis Test were used in analysis of measurement data that did not conform to the normal distribution.

RESULTS

Diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease were found to be statistically significantly higher in Group A. The mean TAPSE/sPAP ratio in Group A patients is lower than in Group E and normal individuals (P<0.001) Vasculitis is more frequently observed in Group E (13.3%) compared to Group A. The frequency of at least one musculoskeletal disease in rheumatologic screening in Group A (100.0%) and in Group E (100.0%) is higher than in the Group N (69.8%) (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

No specific risk factor or disease was identified in this study that increases the frequency of coronary artery ectasia. However, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and low ejection fraction were found to be significantly associated with atherosclerosis.