MESA is a prospective cohort study investigating subclinical atherosclerosis in 6814 individuals aged 45–84 years without known clinical CVD at baseline. Women made up 53% of the cohort and four ethnic groups were represented; 38% Caucasian, 28% African American, 22% Hispanic, and 12% Chinese. The cohort was recruited and initially examined from 2000–2002 at six field centers: Baltimore, MD; Chicago, IL; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; St Paul, MN; and Winston-Salem, NC. Individuals were excluded if they had clinical CVD, including physician-diagnosed myocardial infarction, angina, stroke, transient ischemic attack, or heart failure, use of nitroglycerin, current atrial fibrillation, or had undergone a procedure related to CVD. A detailed description of the study design, recruitment methods, examination components, and data collection has been published9 (link).
After the MESA study began an ancillary study measured AAC and CAC at the same examination in a random sample of MESA participants, recruited during follow-up visits between August 2002 and September 2005 from five of the six MESA field centers: those above with the exception of Baltimore, MD. Of 2202 MESA participants recruited, 2172 agreed to participate, and 1990 satisfied eligibility criteria. 1974 participants had complete CT scanning of their abdominal aorta. Further details about the MESA study design have been published elsewhere and are available on atwww.mesa-nhlbi.org .
After the MESA study began an ancillary study measured AAC and CAC at the same examination in a random sample of MESA participants, recruited during follow-up visits between August 2002 and September 2005 from five of the six MESA field centers: those above with the exception of Baltimore, MD. Of 2202 MESA participants recruited, 2172 agreed to participate, and 1990 satisfied eligibility criteria. 1974 participants had complete CT scanning of their abdominal aorta. Further details about the MESA study design have been published elsewhere and are available on at
