The median coronary artery calcium score was 595 (interquartile range, 76 to 1,600), values
consistent with a high risk of obstructive coronary artery disease in the general population.
The coronary artery calcium scores were directly related to the prevalence of myocardial
infarction (p 0.0001) and angina (p 0.0001), and the aortic calcium scores were directly
related to the prevalence of claudication (p 0.001) and aortic aneurysm (p 0.02). The
extent of coronary calcification was more pronounced with older age, male gender, white race,
diabetes, longer dialysis vintage and higher serum concentrations of calcium and phosphorus.
Total cholesterol (and high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein subfractions),
triglycerides, hemoglobin and albumin were not significantly related to the extent of coronary
artery calcification. Only dialysis vintage was significantly associated with the prevalence of
valvular calcification.