The association of cardiovascular disease risk with coronary artery calcification and thoracic aortic dilation: a study in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies and systemic lupus erythematosus

Objectives We aim to explore the prevalence of coronary artery calcification (CAC) and ascending/descending thoracic aorta (AA/DA) dilation in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, and to assess associations between cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and these imaging signatures. Methods This study recruited 151 IIM patients, 140 SLE patients, and 195 controls. The CAC and AA/DA diameters were quantified using non-gated chest CT images. The independent samples t -test or Mann–Whitney test was chosen for comparisons of continuous variables between patients and healthy controls. For categorical data, comparisons were made using the chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test. Multivariate regression or Spearman’s correlation analysis was employed to probe the associations between CVD risk factors and Framingham risk score (FRS) with imaging signatures. Results The IIM and SLE patients showed significantly higher prevalence of CAC and AA/DA dilatation ( P