Vitamin K-dependent proteins, including matrix Gla-protein, have been shown to inhibit vascular calcification. Activation of these proteins via carboxylation depends on the availability of vitamin K. We examined whether dietary intake of phylloquinone (vitamin K-1) and menaquinone (vitamin K-2) were related to aortic calcification and coronary heart disease (CHD) in the population-based Rotterdam Study. The analysis included 4807 subjects with dietary data and no history of myocardial infarction at baseline (1990-1993) who were followed until January 1, 2000. The risk of incident CHD, all-cause mortality, and aortic atherosclerosis was studied in tertiles of energy-adjusted vitamin K intake after adjustment for age, gender, BMI, smoking, diabetes, education, and dietary factors. The relative risk (RR) of CHD mortality was reduced in the mid and upper tertiles of dietary menaquinone compared to the lower tertile [RR = 0.73 (95% CI: 0.45, 1.17) and 0.43 (0.24, 0.77), respectively]. Intake of menaquinone was also inversely related to all-cause mortality [RR = 0.91 (0.75, 1.09) and 0.74 (0.59, 0.92), respectively] and severe aortic calcification [odds ratio of 0.71 (0.50, 1.00) and 0.48 (0.32, 0.71), respectively]. Phylloquinone intake was not related to any of the outcomes. These findings suggest that an adequate intake of menaquinone could be important for CHD prevention.

Background-Several noninvasive methods are available to investigate the severity of extracoronary atherosclerotic disease. No population-based study has yet examined whether differences exist between these measures with regard to their predictive value for myocardial infarction (MI) or whether a given measure of atherosclerosis has predictive value independently of the other measures. Methods and Results-At the baseline (1990 -1993) examination of the Rotterdam Study, a population-based cohort study among subjects age Ն55 years, carotid plaques and intima-media thickness (IMT) were measured by ultrasound, abdominal aortic atherosclerosis by x-ray, and lower-extremity atherosclerosis by computation of the ankle-arm index.In the present study, 6389 subjects were included; 258 cases of incident MI occurred before January 1, 2000. , although differences were small. The hazard ratio for MI for subjects with severe atherosclerosis according to a composite atherosclerosis score was 2.77 (1.70 to 4.52) compared with subjects with no atherosclerosis. The predictive value of MI for a given measure of atherosclerosis was independent of the other atherosclerosis measures. Conclusions-Noninvasive measures of extracoronary atherosclerosis are strong predictors of MI. The relatively crude measures directly assessing plaques in the carotid artery and abdominal aorta predict MI equally well as the more precisely measured carotid IMT.

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The spatial QRS-T angle is a strong and independent predictor of cardiac mortality in the elderly. It is stronger than any of the classical cardiovascular risk factors and ECG risk indicators and provides additional value to them in predicting fatal cardiac events.