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BACKGROUND: The relationship of coronary artery calcium (CAC) with adverse cardiac remodeling is not well established. To study the association of CAC in middle age and change in CAC from early adulthood to middle age with left ventricular (LV) function. METHODS: CAC score was measured by computed tomography at CARDIA study year-15 (Y15) and at Y25 examinations in 3,043 and 3,189 participants, respectively. CAC score was assessed as a continuous variable and log-transformed to account for nonlinearity. Change in CAC from Y15 to Y25 was evaluated as the absolute difference of log-transformed CAC from Y15 to Y25. LV structure and function were evaluated by echocardiography at Y25. RESULTS: At Y25, mean age was 50.1±3.6 yr, 56.6% women, 52.4% black. In the multivariable analysis at Y25, higher CAC was related to higher LV mass (β=1.218, adjusted-p=0.007), higher LV end-diastolic volume (β=0.811, adjusted-p=0.007), higher LV end-systolic volume (β=0.350, adjusted-p=0.048), higher LA volume (β=0.214, adjusted-p=0.009), and higher E/e' ratio (β=0.059, adjusted-p= 0.014). CAC was measured at both Y15 and Y25 in 2,449 individuals. Higher change in CAC score during follow-up was independently related to higher LV mass index in blacks (β=4.789, adjusted-p<0.001), but not in whites (β=1.051, adjusted-p=0.283). CONCLUSIONS: Higher CAC in middle age is associated to higher LV mass and volumes, and worse LV diastolic function. Being free of CAC from young adulthood to middle age correlates to better LV function at middle age. Higher change in CAC score during follow-up is independently related to higher LV mass index in blacks.

Each year, the American Heart Association (AHA), in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and other government agencies, brings together the most up-to-date statistics on heart disease, stroke, other vascular diseases, and their risk factors and presents them in its Heart Disease and Stroke Statistical Update. The Statistical Update is a valuable resource for researchers, clinicians, healthcare policy makers, media professionals, the lay public, and many others who seek the best national data available on disease morbidity and mortality and the risks, quality of care, medical procedures and operations, and costs associated with the management of these diseases in a single document. Indeed, since 1999, the Statistical Update has been cited more than 8700 times in the literature (including citations of all annual versions). In 2009 alone, the various Statistical Updates were cited ≈1600 times (data from ISI Web of Science). In recent years, the Statistical Update has undergone some major changes with the addition of new chapters and major updates across multiple areas. For this year's edition, the Statistics Committee, which produces the document for the AHA, updated all of the current chapters with the most recent nationally representative data and inclusion of relevant articles from the literature over the past year and added a new chapter detailing how family history and genetics play a role in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Also, the 2011 Statistical Update is a major source for monitoring both cardiovascular health and disease in the population, with a focus on progress toward achievement of the AHA's 2020 Impact Goals. Below are a few highlights from this year's Update.