Our purpose was to assess a possible association of inflammatory, lipid and mineral metabolism biomarkers with coronary artery ectasia (CAE) and to determine a possible association of this with acute atherotrombotic events (AAT). We studied 270 patients who underwent coronary angiography during an acute coronary syndrome 6 months before. Plasma levels of several biomarkers were assessed, and patients were followed during a median of 5.35 (3.88–6.65) years. Two interventional cardiologists reviewed the coronary angiograms, diagnosing CAE according to previously published criteria in 23 patients (8.5%). Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was used to search for independent predictors of CAE. Multivariate analysis revealed that, aside from gender and a diagnosis of dyslipidemia, only monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) (OR = 2.25, 95%CI = (1.35–3.76) for each increase of 100 pg/mL, p = 0.001) was independent predictor of CAE, whereas mineral metabolism markers or proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 were not. Moreover, CAE was a strong predictor of AAT during follow-up after adjustment for other clinically relevant variables (HR = 2.67, 95%CI = (1.22–5.82), p = 0.013). This is the first report showing that MCP-1 is an independent predictor of CAE, suggesting that CAE and coronary artery disease may share pathogenic mechanisms. Furthermore, CAE was associated with an increased incidence of AAT.
Coronary Artery Ectasia is Associated with the Elevation of Mean Platelet Volume Regardless of an Existing Acute Coronary Syndrome