My Approach to Using Coronary Artery Calcium Scoring in Primary Prevention of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiology guidelines universally recommend consideration of preventive pharmacotherapy, including aspirin and statin therapy, based on estimations of absolute atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk using various risk estimators. These tools use established ASCVD risk factors such as age, gender, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, diabetes, and smoking. The most recent risk score is the centerpiece of the 2013 ACC/AHA prevention guidelines, and it estimates 10-year risk for a heart attack or stroke.

Source: Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine - October 13, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Erin D Michos, Roger S. Blumenthal, Lena M. Mathews Source Type: research