In this article, the authors examined the relation between body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) as well as subcutaneous and intra-abdominal adiposity measured by computed tomography (CT) with the prevalence of either coronary or abdominal aortic calcium in the Frammingham Heart Study. Cross-sectional areas of subcutaneous and intra-abdominal adipose tissue as well as coronary and abdominal aortic calcification were measured by computed tomography in a sample of 3 130 men and women free from clinical cardiovascular disease. Results indicated that BMI, WC and intra-abdominal adipose tissue were all associated with abdominal aortic calcification in the age- and gender- adjusted models (p<0.012). However, these associations were attenuated in the multivariate models (p>0.23) which included cardiovascular disease risk factors. This phenomenon may be explained by the fact that cardiovascular disease risk factors mediate the association between adiposity indices and subclinical cardiovascular disease. Progression of subclinical disease in relation to adiposity measurements was not studied. Thus, measures of both total and intra-abdominal adiposity are associated with coronary aortic calcium and abdominal aortic calcium.
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