Table 1.
Baseline Characteristics According to Quartiles of VEGF‐C
| Baseline Characteristics | Overall | Quartile 1 (n=604) | Quartile 2 (n=605) | Quartile 3 (n=604) | Quartile 4 (n=605) | P Value | P Value for Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mean (SD), y | 70.6 (10.4) | 73.3 (9.2) | 72.7 (9.3) | 70.1 (9.6) | 66.3 (11.9) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Male | 1624 (67.2) | 421 (69.7) | 430 (71.1) | 405 (67.1) | 368 (60.8) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Body mass index, mean (SD) | 24.0 (3.9) | 23.5 (3.8) | 24.1 (3.9) | 24.2 (3.6) | 25.0 (4.2) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Obesitya | 936 (38.7) | 207 (34.3) | 225 (37.2) | 224 (37.1) | 280 (46.3) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Hypertension | 1843 (76.2) | 458 (75.8) | 466 (77.0) | 461 (76.3) | 458 (75.7) | 0.948 | 0.889 |
| Dyslipidemia | 1466 (60.6) | 333 (55.1) | 369 (61.0) | 363 (60.1) | 401 (66.3) | 0.001 | <0.001 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 1087 (45.0) | 283 (46.9) | 289 (47.8) | 255 (42.2) | 260 (43.0) | 0.133 | 0.057 |
| Current smoker | 428 (17.7) | 88 (14.6) | 100 (16.5) | 111 (18.4) | 129 (21.3) | 0.016 | 0.001 |
| History of smoking habit | 1463 (60.5) | 377 (62.4) | 361 (59.7) | 363 (60.1) | 362 (59.8) | 0.740 | 0.411 |
| Previous cardiovascular eventsb | 1098 (45.4) | 318 (52.6) | 299 (49.4) | 262 (43.4) | 219 (36.2) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Coronary artery disease | 1392 (57.6) | 364 (60.3) | 369 (61.0) | 342 (56.6) | 317 (52.4) | 0.009 | 0.002 |
| Multivessel or LMT disease | 794 (32.8) | 213 (35.3) | 214 (35.4) | 192 (31.8) | 175 (28.9) | 0.049 | 0.008 |
| NYHA class III or IV | 252 (10.4) | 82 (13.6) | 57 (9.4) | 52 (8.6) | 61 (10.1) | 0.026 | 0.042 |
| Atrial fibrillation | 261 (10.8) | 92 (15.2) | 65 (10.7) | 64 (10.6) | 40 (6.6) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Chronic kidney diseasec | 999 (41.3) | 336 (55.6) | 291 (48.1) | 207 (34.3) | 165 (27.3) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Malignancies | 226 (9.3) | 86 (14.2) | 55 (9.1) | 42 (7.0) | 43 (7.1) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Anemiad | 882 (36.5) | 348 (57.6) | 251 (41.5) | 167 (27.6) | 116 (19.2) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| NT‐proBNP, median (IQR), pg/mL | 198 (73–737) | 475 (136–1451) | 219 (85–716) | 145 (62–484) | 124 (46–373) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| cTnI, median (IQR), pg/mL | 0.0 (0.0–11.0) | 2.0 (0.0–22.0) | 0.0 (0.0–9.0) | 0.0 (0.0–9.0) | 0.0 (0.0–6.0) | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| hs‐CRP, median (IQR), mg/L | 0.9 (0.3–3.1) | 1.0 (0.3–3.5) | 0.9 (0.3–3.1) | 0.7 (0.3–2.7) | 1.1 (0.4–3.0) | 0.012 | 0.822 |
| Anti‐hypertensive drug use | 1967 (81.3) | 505 (83.6) | 502 (83.0) | 473 (78.3) | 487 (80.5) | 0.070 | 0.048 |
| Statin use | 1222 (50.5) | 286 (47.4) | 324 (53.6) | 301 (49.8) | 311 (51.4) | 0.175 | 0.354 |
| Aspirin use | 1340 (55.4) | 324 (53.6) | 340 (56.2) | 342 (56.6) | 334 (55.2) | 0.733 | 0.572 |
Values are expressed as number (percentage) unless otherwise indicated. The quartiles of VEGF‐C levels were as follows: quartile 1, ≤2657; quartile 2, 2658 to 3543; quartile 3, 3544 to 4435; quartile 4, ≥4436 pg/mL. cTnI indicates contemporary sensitive cardiac troponin I; hs‐CRP, high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein; IQR, interquartile range; LMT, left main trunk; NT‐proBNP, N‐terminal pro‐brain natriuretic peptide; NYHA, New York Heart Association; VEGF‐C, vascular endothelial growth factor‐C.
Obesity is defined as the body mass index of ≥25.
Previous cardiovascular events includes myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure hospitalization, and coronary revascularization.
Chronic kidney disease is defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate of <60 mL/min per 1.73 m2.
Anemia is defined as a hemoglobin level of less than 13 g/dL in men and <12 g/dL in women.