Low free testosterone level as a predictor of cardiovascular events in Japanese men with coronary risk factors

Abstract

Aim: We investigated whether low plasma free testosterone (FT) levels could predict cardiovascular events (CVE) in Japanese men with coronary risk factors. Methods: Male patients with classical coronary risk factors who had undergone serum FT testing were enrolled. New incidences of CVE were retrospectively investigated among all eligible participants based on their medical records. Results: Overall, 466 male outpatients with coronary risk factors without a previous history of CVE were identified. Throughout the follow-up period (median = 92 months), 126 CVE occurred. The Kaplan–Meier survival analysis according to the tertiles of plasma FT levels revealed that patients with the lowest FT tertile (<6.5 pg/mL) had a higher likelihood of developing CVE than those with the highest tertile (>9.3 pg/mL) (p