CT Calcium Scoring Improves Coronary Risk Evaluation

A study has concluded that computed tomography (CT) scans for calcium can significantly help predict cardiac deaths and may also help doctors make treatment decisions on patients in the middle range of risk. The findings were published in the January 14, 2004, issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The study involved 1,461 research volunteers who underwent CT calcium scoring. Calcium is one of many substances found in atherosclerotic plaques. Calcium scans measure the amount of calcium buildup in the arteries of the heart, and the calcium score correlates with the amount and severity of artery blockages in a patient. The study results confirm the recommendations of the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology Consensus Group that CT scanning can assist in evaluating risk and determining appropriate preventive therapy.

"The findings are particularly significant because treatment decisions are the hardest to make for patients of middle risk,” noted principal investigator Robert C. Deltrano, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine in the cardiology division at Harbor-UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles) Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA, USA). "If a large amount of coronary calcium in such people is found to be an important predictor of future coronary disease, doctors might be able to make faster and more aggressive treatment decisions, such as prescribing drugs or lifestyle changes.”