Research papersImpact on mortality of coronary and non-coronary cardiovascular findings in non-gated thoracic CT by malignancy status

•We evaluated the prognostic value of cardiac findings during standard chest CT.•We included 1.901 patients with clinically indicated non-gated chest CT scans.•After a 3.7 (3.5-3.9) years follow-up, 217 (11.4%) deaths occurred.•Survival rates were related to calcification in patients without malignancy.•Survival was related to other cardiovascular findings irrespective of malignancy.

PurposeThe prognostic value of coronary artery calcification (CAC) assessed on non-gated thoracic CT scans has only been explored in population-based studies. We explored the impact of the presence and extension of CAC, as well as of non-coronary atherosclerosis cardiovascular findings (NCACVF) in survival of patients with and without malignancies undergoing clinically indicated non-gated thoracic computed tomography (CT) scans.Materials and methodsBetween August and December 2012, a total of 1.901 patients aged between 35 and 74 years underwent clinically indicated non-gated, non-enhanced thoracic CT scans and followed for mortality through September 2016.ResultsThree hundred and thirty two (17.5%), 250 (13.2%), and 329 (17.3%) patients showed CAC in 1, 2, and 3 vessels, respectively, and the remaining had no CAC. Two hundred and fifty five (13.4%) patients had evidence of extensive calcification (CACSIS > 5). Only 62 (3.3%) had major NCACVF whereas 1635 (86%) had none or minimal NCACVF. After a median follow-up of 3.7 (3.5-3.9) years, 217 (11.4%) deaths occurred. Age [HR 1.03 (95% CI 1.01-1.05), p = 0.001], a history of malignancy [HR 8.04 (95% CI 5.95-10.9), p < 0.0001], and the NCACVF class [HR 1.79 (95% CI 1.45-2.19), p < 0.0001] were identified as independent predictors of death. CACSIS was found an independent predictor of death only among patients without malignancy (HR 1.10 (95% CI 1.02-1.20), p = 0.019).ConclusionsIn this study including clinically indicated non-gated standard thoracic CT scans, survival rates were associated to the CAC extension among patients without malignancy, and to the NCACVF class independent from the malignancy status.