Table 1. Descriptive characteristics of study population according to BACE1-AS tertiles .
| Variable | N | All | 1st tertile | 2nd tertile | 3rd tertile | p -Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (y) | 429 | 59.5 (11.9) |
57.3 (11.3) |
61.5 (12.6) |
59.7 (11.4) |
0.01 |
| Gender (male), n (%) | 430 | 244 (56.74) |
67 (46.21) |
93 (65.96) |
84 (58.33) |
0.003 |
| Non-CVD, n (%) | 259 | 259 (59.7%) | 113 (43.8%) | 81 (31.2%) |
65 (25%) |
<0.001 |
| Stable CAD, n (%) | 90 | 90 (20.7%) |
12 (13.3%) |
41 (45.6%) |
37 (41.1%) |
<0.001 |
| ACS, n (%) | 85 | 85 (19.6%) |
19 (22.4%) |
24 (28.2%) |
42 (49.4%) |
<0.001 |
| BMI (kg/m 2 ) | 354 | 27.6 (4.77) |
27.6 (5.11) |
27.7 (4.56) |
27.5 (4.6) |
0.944 |
| SBP (mmHg) | 366 | 129 (19.5) |
127 (18.2) |
131 (20.1) |
130 (20.3) |
0.219 |
| DBP (mmHg) | 366 | 73.7 (10.5) |
72.2 (9.77) |
74.1 (11) |
74.9 (10.7) |
0.098 |
| Smoking, n (%) | 420 | 186 (44.29%) |
60 (41.67%) |
58 (42.96%) |
68 (48.23%) |
0.501 |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 423 | 184 (43.50%) | 44 (30.56%) |
75 (54.74%) |
65 (45.77%) |
<0.001 |
| Hyperlipidemia, n (%) | 422 | 194 (45.97%) | 48 (33.33%) |
69 (50.74%) |
77 (54.23%) |
0.001 |
| Diabetes mellitus, n (%) | 423 | 75 (17.73%) |
22 (15.28%) |
25 (18.25%) |
28 (19.72%) |
0.605 |
| Presence of carotid plaques, n (%) | 378 | 183 (48.41%) | 56 (44.44%) |
61 (47.66%) |
66 (53.23%) |
0.373 |
| Presence of any plaque, n (%) | 374 | 212 (56.68%) | 65 (52.00%) |
73 (57.03%) |
74 (61.16%) |
0.348 |
| Presence of femoral plaques, n (%) | 376 | 158 (42.02%) | 46 (36.51%) |
54 (42.52%) |
58 (47.15) |
0.233 |
| Patients with high or very high CVD risk profile, n (%) | 420 | 319 (75.95%) | 93 (65.49%) |
112 (80.58%) |
114 (82.01%) |
0.001 |
| *HeartScore, n (%) | 115 | 6 (2–9) |
4 (2–8) |
6 (3- 9) |
6 (2–10) |
0.004 |
| *GFR (mL/min) | 405 | 94.2 (68.1–113) |
101 (83.4–121) |
81.3 (58.7–105) |
97.2 (72.6–115) |
<0.001 |
| *hs-CRP (mg/L) | 380 | 0.23 (0.080–0.875) |
0.15 (0.07–0.6) |
0.35 (0.09–1.33) |
0.294 (0.095–0.906) |
0.017 |
| *Pulse wave velocity (m/s) | 300 | 8.97 (7.95–10.9) |
8.25 (7.55–9.9) |
9.95 (8.35–12.4) |
9.05 (8.05–11.2) |
<0.001 |
| *Augmentation index (%) | 277 | 26 (20–31) |
26 (20–31) |
25.5 (20–31) |
26 (20–32) |
0.646 |
| *Time of return of reflected waves (ms) | 279 | 140 (133–146) |
141 (138–148) |
142 (132–148) |
138 (132–143) |
0.003 |
| *Common carotid artery IMT (mm) | 344 | 0.83 (0.72–0.98) |
0.79 (0.68–0.92) |
0.867 (0.735–1.04) |
0.84 (0.75–0.98) |
0.014 |
| *Total number of femoral and carotid segments with plaque | 388 | 1 (0–2) |
0 (0–2) |
1 (0–3) |
1 (0–3) |
0.194 |
| *Number of diseased vascular beds | 434 | 1 (0–2) |
1 (0–2) |
1 (1–3) |
1 (1–3) |
0.001 |
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; hs-CRP, high sensitivity C-reactive protein; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; GFR, glomerular filtration rate; IMT, intima-media thickness; SBP, systolic blood pressure.
Note: p -Value is derived from analysis of variance or the nonparametric Kruskal–Wallis rank test (*) for continuous variables and the chi-squared test for nominal variables. High/very high CVD risk was defined according to ESC Guidelines. 20 Diseased vascular beds were defined as: (1) carotid arteries with presence of plaque, (2) coronary arteries with presence of plaque with stenosis >50%, (3) femoral arteries with presence of plaque.