The association of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis with abdominal and total obesity in asymptomatic men.

The present study assesses and compares the association of waist circumference and body mass index with presence and severity of coronary artery calcium in asymptomatic men. The study population consisted of 451 asymptomatic men free of known coronary heart disease. The subjects were broadly divided into tertiles by waist circumference (< or =92 cm; 92.5-100 cm; > or =101 cm) and body mass index (< or =25.5 kg/m2; 25.6-28.4 kg/m2; > or =28.5 kg/m2), respectively. The risk of coronary artery calcium was two-fold higher among those with a waist circumference in the highest tertile (> or =101 cm) compared with men with waist circumference < or =92 cm. The relationship was found to be independent of body mass index, age, and conventional coronary heart disease risk factors. No significant association of body mass index with coronary artery calcium was observed. Our results are consistent with evidence that measures of central obesity, compared with body mass index, are more strongly related to clinical as well as subclinical coronary heart disease end points.