Slow Coronary Flow and the Serum Vitamin D Level

Abstract

<span><strong><em>Background: </em></strong><span>Several studies have demonstrated an association between vitamin D deficiency and<span> cardiovascular diseases. Slow coronary flow (SCF) is a phenomenon in coronary angiography<span> defined as the slow (delayed) opacification of the epicardial coronary arteries with contrast<span> agents in the absence of coronary obstruction. We sought to evaluate the level of vitamin D in<span> SCF patients against normal coronary conditions.<br /><span><strong><em>Methods: </em></strong><span>This cross-sectional study was carried out on 164 patients admitted for elective coronary<span> angiography. For 15 months, from among these patients, 82 patients with SCF and 82 patients<span> with normal coronary arteries or mild coronary artery disease (CAD) who were matched for age<span> and gender were selected and vitamin D levels were measured accordingly.<br /><span><strong><em>Results: </em></strong><span>The mean age of the patients was 56 years in the normal coronary group and 54 years in the<span> SCF group. The mean level of vitamin D was 23.84 ng/mL in the normal coronary group and<span> 24.29 ng/mL in the SCF group. Vitamin D deficiency was observed in 44.4% of the patients in<span> the normal coronary group and 41.2% of the patients in the SCF group. The Mann–Whitney <span><em>U</em><span> test showed no significant difference between the 2 groups in terms of vitamin D levels<span> (<span><em>P </em><span>= 0.96).<br /><span><strong><em>Conclusions: </em></strong><span>The level of vitamin D was not significantly different between our 2 groups of patients<span> with SCF and with normal coronary arteries (or mild CAD).</span></span></span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>