1198 ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION IS AN INDEPENDENT RISK FACTOR FOR THE PRESENCE OF HIGH RISK CORONARY ARTERY CALCIFICATION

Article Outline

• INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES
• METHODS
• RESULTS
• CONCLUSIONS
• Copyright

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INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES 

Recent epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that erectile dysfunction (ED) is an independent risk factor for future cardiovascular events. This study aims to further define the relationship between ED and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a population of men undergoing screening for CVD by using coronary artery calcium scores (CACS), which serve as a marker for subclinical atherosclerosis.

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METHODS 

We evaluated 1,119 consecutively enrolled men in the ongoing Law Enforcement Cardiac Screening Program, a subset of the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program. ED was defined as a Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) score less than 22. All patients were evaluated with a dedicated cardiac CT scan in order to determine CACS. CACS percentile scores were by definition adjusted for age and ethnicity, with high CACS defined as the 75th percentile or greater. Using SAS 9.2 statistical software, multinomial logistic regression was used to model the relationship between CACS and SHIM scores, adjusting for comorbidities including diabetes, hypertension, obesity (body mass index greater than 30) and smoking.

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RESULTS 

The mean age of the men was 50.5 years. 327 men (31%) were noted to have ED. After adjusting for comorbidities, the presence of ED was significantly associated with the presence of high risk CACS, (p = 0.008). Patients with ED had a 54% greater likelihood of having high risk CACS compared to their counterparts without ED (OR 1.54, 95% confidence interval 1.12-2.11). Of the comorbidities evaluated only hypertension (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.02-2.01), and a history of smoking (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.12-2.16) where independently associated with high CACS.

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CONCLUSIONS 

In this large cohort of men, the presence of ED was independently associated with a 54% increased risk of having high risk CACS. This increased relative risk was similar to a history of hypertension and smoking. This study further contributes to the emerging literature establishing ED as independent risk factor for CVD.