Smoking and coronary atherosclerosis: follow-up study in China.

1. The aim of the present study was to explore the association between the total number of cigarettes smoked in life and the severity of and mortality due to coronary atherosclerosis. 2. The study population comprised 1096 consecutive patients (820 men and 276 women) who underwent coronary angiography for suspected or known coronary atherosclerosis. Anthropometric and plasma measurements (body mass index, blood pressure and blood lipid, blood glucose and pro-insulin levels) were made. The number of cigarettes smoked during previous years was estimated. The severity of coronary atherosclerosis was defined by the Gensini score system. 3. At baseline, a significant positive association was observed between the number of cigarettes smoked and Gensini score (r = 0.213; P = 0.000), pro-insulin (r = 0.072; P = 0.017), total leucocyte count (r = 0.179; P = 0.000) and neutrophil count (r = 0.164; P = 0.000), whereas an inverse correlation was found between the number of cigarettes smoked and High-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (r = -0.150; P = 0.000). 4. When participants were divided into five categories based on the baseline number of cigarettes smoked, an independent association between baseline number of cigarettes smoked and all-cause mortality was observed in a multivariate analysis of Cox proportional hazards models, with a hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) of 1.328 (1.086-1.623; P = 0.006) during a median follow up of 2.86 years. 5. The number of cigarettes smoked was a highly significant predictor of coronary atherosclerosis and an independent risk factor for mortality in subjects with atherosclerosis in this Chinese population.