Association of blood lipids with coronary artery plaque among Saudi patients referred to computed tomography

Blood lipids are strong risk factors for the progression of atherosclerotic plaques. However, data on gender-specific associations are limited. To examine gender-specific associations of coronary plaque with blood lipids among a large sample of Saudi patients without CAD. Retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted among adult patients referred to (64 multidetector spiral) computed tomography (CT) for standard indications at the Prince Sultan Cardiac Centre (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) between July 2007 and December 2017. Those with pre-existing CAD were excluded. Plaques were determined based on quantification of coronary calcium and Coronary CT angiography. A total 2421 patients (1498 males and 923 females) were included. The prevalence of any plaque was 36.6% with higher burden in males than females (41.3% versus 28.9%, p