Coronary Artery Calcium Score and Association with Recurrent Nephrolithiasis: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Purpose: Subclinical coronary artery calcification is an established predictor of cardiovascular events. While a history of kidney stones has been linked to subclinical carotid atherosclerosis, to our knowledge no study has examined its relationship with coronary artery calcification. We studied the association between kidney stone history and prevalent coronary artery calcification in MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis).Materials and Methods: MESA is a multisite cohort study of participants 45 to 84 years old without known cardiovascular disease at baseline from 2000 to 2002. Computerized tomography was done in 3,282 participants at followup in 2010 to 2012 to determine coronary artery calcification and kidney stone history was assessed by self-report. Coronary artery calcification scores were categorized as none—0, mild—1 to 99, moderate—100 to 399 or severe—400 or greater. Cross-sectional analysis was performed adjusting for demographic and dietary factors related to kidney stones.Results: The...