Role of Coronary Artery Calcium Score CT in Risk Stratification of Asymptomatic Individuals.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review without systematic methodology or meta-analytic data
PubMed 41295368 · doi:10.3390/jcdd12110442
What was done
A narrative review evaluated the role of coronary artery calcium scoring (CACS) on CT in cardiovascular risk stratification for asymptomatic adults. The authors conducted a structured PubMed search (2010–2025) covering guidelines, consensus documents, observational studies (including MESA), and clinical trials published in English.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical data, effect sizes, or risk ratios. Qualitatively, CACS is reported to predict 10-year cardiovascular events, improve risk reclassification over standard risk scores, identify very low-risk individuals (CAC score = 0), maintain prognostic performance across age, sex, and ethnicity, and assist decision-making for aspirin and lipid-lowering therapy.
Why it matters
This review highlights how CACS can serve as an adjunct to traditional risk calculators to guide targeted primary prevention strategies in asymptomatic adults.
Limits
As a narrative review, it lacks a formal systematic methodology, quality assessment of included studies, and quantitative meta-analysis. The abstract provides no numbers, effect estimates, or details on the total number of studies and participants reviewed.
Cited by
- contradicts Coronary artery calcification (a high calcium score) represents stabilized plaque unlikely to rupture, whereas soft plaque is the primary driver of acute arterial blockage and heart attacks.