Coronary artery calcium in hypertension: a review

• Hypertension is associated with greater degrees of coronary calcium.
• Predictive role of coronary calcium in the development of hypertension is inconclusive.
• Higher coronary calcium is associated with adverse cardiovascular events.

Coronary artery calcium (CAC) is a powerful independent predictor of future cardiovascular events. However, the clinical utility of calcium score testing specifically among patients with hypertension is not well defined. We performed a review of studies involving both high blood pressure (BP) and CAC to assess several aspects of the interrelationship. Among four specific topics evaluated, the main objective was to assess the independent association of CAC with cardiovascular risk among patients with hypertension. From 6822 identified publications, 21 studies met criteria for inclusion. All studies (n = 14) that reported the relationship between BP values and the presence or extent of coronary calcium found positive associations. The results from two studies linking coronary calcium with the risk for developing hypertension were mixed. Each of the five studies that evaluated the relationships between CAC score in regard to future cardiovascular events and/or all-cause mortality in patients with high BP reported independent positive associations. The inclusion of calcium score results into prediction models improved risk stratification when statistically evaluated. The findings of this review demonstrate that CAC testing is likely to be of clinical utility for tailoring the medical management of patients with high BP, particularly among individuals with mild or prehypertension. Future trials testing the clinical effectiveness of a calcium score-based treatment algorithm should be considered.