biostudies-literatureSaleh MNCATS NIH HHSHarvard Clinical and Translational Science CenterNHLBI NIH HHSNational Heart, Lung, and Blood InstituteSpecialized Centers of Clinically Oriented Research (SCCOR)34-41https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC7963403biostudies-literatureUnknown277<h4>Background and aims</h4>Hypertension is associated with increased clinical and subclinical coronary artery disease (CAD); however, the relationship between blood pressure and coronary plaque volume is unclear. We examined the effect of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) on coronary artery plaque volume.<h4>Methods</h4>285 subjects with stable CAD on statin therapy underwent coronary computed tomographic angiography to measure volume of fatty, fibrous, noncalcified, calcified and total coronary plaque.<h4>Results</h4>Mean (SD) age was 63.1 (7.7); mean (SD) LDL-C, 78.7 mg/dL (28.5). Compared to the highest DBP tertile (>76 mmHg), those in the lowest DBP tertile (≤68 mmHg) had lower volumes of fatty: 10.0 vs. 7.7 mm³/mm, (p trend = 0.042), fibrous: 19.6 vs. 13.8 mm³/mm (p trend = 0.011), non-calcified: 29.7 vs. 22.5 mm³/mm (p trend = 0.017) and total plaque: 37.8 vs. 25.1 mm³/mm (p trend = 0.010) whereas there was no relationship with SBP tertiles. Similarly, when examined as a continuous variable, higher DBP was a significant independent predictor of higher plaque volume after multivariate adjustment: for every 1 mmHg increase in DBP, fibrous plaque increased 0.128 mm³/mm (p = 0.022), noncalcified plaque increased 0.176 mm³/mm (p = 0.045), calcified plaque increased 0.096 mm³/mm (p = 0.001) and total plaque increased 0.249 mm³/mm (p = 0.019) whereas SBP ranging from 95 to 154 mmHg did not predict plaque volume.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Level of DBP predicts coronary plaque with a DBP tertile ≤68 mmHg associated with the least amount of coronary plaque in subjects with LDL-C < 80 mg/dL.AtherosclerosisDiastolic blood pressure predicts coronary plaque volume in patients with coronary artery disease.PMC7963403UL1 TR001102P50 HL083813NIH UL1 TR001102Saleh MHaj-Ibrahim HAlfaddagh AWelty FKAshfaque HElajami TKfalseDiastolic blood pressure predicts coronary plaque volume in patients with coronary artery disease.<h4>Background and aims</h4>Hypertension is associated with increased clinical and subclinical coronary artery disease (CAD); however, the relationship between blood pressure and coronary plaque volume is unclear. We examined the effect of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) on coronary artery plaque volume.<h4>Methods</h4>285 subjects with stable CAD on statin therapy underwent coronary computed tomographic angiography to measure volume of fatty, fibrous, noncalcified, calcified and total coronary plaque.<h4>Results</h4>Mean (SD) age was 63.1 (7.7); mean (SD) LDL-C, 78.7 mg/dL (28.5). Compared to the highest DBP tertile (>76 mmHg), those in the lowest DBP tertile (≤68 mmHg) had lower volumes of fatty: 10.0 vs. 7.7 mm³/mm, (p trend = 0.042), fibrous: 19.6 vs. 13.8 mm³/mm (p trend = 0.011), non-calcified: 29.7 vs. 22.5 mm³/mm (p trend = 0.017) and total plaque: 37.8 vs. 25.1 mm³/mm (p trend = 0.010) whereas there was no relationship with SBP tertiles. Similarly, when examined as a continuous variable, higher DBP was a significant independent predictor of higher plaque volume after multivariate adjustment: for every 1 mmHg increase in DBP, fibrous plaque increased 0.128 mm³/mm (p = 0.022), noncalcified plaque increased 0.176 mm³/mm (p = 0.045), calcified plaque increased 0.096 mm³/mm (p = 0.001) and total plaque increased 0.249 mm³/mm (p = 0.019) whereas SBP ranging from 95 to 154 mmHg did not predict plaque volume.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Level of DBP predicts coronary plaque with a DBP tertile ≤68 mmHg associated with the least amount of coronary plaque in subjects with LDL-C < 80 mg/dL.2018-01-01T00:00:00Z2018 Oct2025-04-18T18:57:23.388Z2025-04-07T06:41:15.78ZS-EPMC79634033017022210.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2018.07.031