Background/aims: Abdominal aortic calcium (AAC) deposition has been suggested as a marker of early atherosclerosis. There is no published data on the evaluation of AAC in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Methods: AAC was quantified by computed tomography or enterography scans performed in 98 IBD patients and 1:1 age and sex matched controls. AAC deposition was correlated with IBD characteristics, disease activity or severity parameters, laboratory tests and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors.
Results: Moderate-severe grade of AAC was found in 35.7% of IBD patients compared to 30.6% of controls (P= 0.544). IBD with CVD and ulcerative colitis patients had significantly higher rates of more severe atherosclerotic lesions (P= 0.001 and P= 0.01, respectively). AAC deposition was similarly distributed in age groups ( < 45, 45-64, and ≥ 65 years) among patients and controls. Multivariate analysis after excluding CVD risk confounders for non-CVD patients found extensive disease (P= 0.019) and lifetime steroids (P= 0.04) as independent risk factors for AAC. Anti-tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) use was negatively associated with AAC deposition in non-CVD IBD patients (odds ratio, 0.023; 95% confidence interval, 0.001-0.594; P= 0.023).
Conclusions: More than one-third of IBD patients have moderate to severe AAC. Better control of inflammation with anti-TNF-α agents seems to protect IBD patients from ACC deposition and subsequent atherosclerosis.
Keywords: Abdominal aortic calcium; Atherosclerosis; Colitis, ulcerative; Crohn disease; Tumor necrosis factor-alpha.