Table 2.
Thoracic aorta calcification incidences of total MHD patients, MHD patients with and without diabetes
| Characteristic | Total (N = 62) | With diabetes (N = 27) | Without diabetes (N = 35) | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CT | N = 43 | N = 22 | N = 21 | |
| TC | 35, 81.4% | 19, 86.4% | 16, 76.2% | 0.457 |
| ARC | 13, 30.2% | 7, 31.8% | 6, 28.6% | 1.000 |
| ATAC | 15, 34.9% | 8, 36.8% | 7, 33.3% | 1.000 |
| AAC | 35, 81.4% | 19, 86.4% | 16, 76.2% | 0.457 |
| DTAC | 32, 74.4% | 18, 81.8% | 14, 66.7% | 0.310 |
| Routine chest radiography | N = 24 | N = 6 | N = 18 | |
| AAC | 18, 75% | 6, 100% | 12, 66.7% | 0.277 |
| AAC by CT or chest radiography | N = 62 | N = 27 | N = 35 | |
| 49, 79.0% | 24, 88.9% | 25, 71.4% | 0.122 |
Thoracic aorta calcium estimated by computed tomography (CT): calcification volume quantified by extracting the aorta calcium with density ≥ 130 HU from the volume-rendered image under the assistance of semi-automatic software; thoracic aorta was divided into 4 sites, aortic root calcium (ARC), ascending aorta calcium (ATAC), AAC (aortic arch calcium), DTAC(descending thoracic aorta calcium) and TC (total calcium) were all calculated
AAC by routine chest radiography: the circumferences of aortic arch was divided into 16 sites, the number of sectors with calcification was calculated and multiplied by 100 to express the results as a percentage