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Prognostic value of cardiovascular CT: Is coronary artery calcium screening enough? The added value of CCTA

Journal of Nuclear Cardiology volume 19, pages 601–608 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the primary cause of death in adults in the United States. Only 50% of patients who present with a myocardial infarction have a prior history of CAD. Non-invasive cardiac imaging tests have been developed to diagnose CAD. Current guidelines and systematic reviews have tried to determine the prognostic value of the coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring and the coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) for major adverse cardiovascular events. Several studies support the roles of CCTA and CAC scoring for the diagnosis of CAD in asymptomatic patients. Further studies are needed to confirm the superior role of CCTA over CAC scoring in symptomatic patients.

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Affiliations

  1. Instituto Nacional de Cardiologia, Ignacio Chavez, Juan Badiano No 1, Col. Sección XVI, Tlalpan, 14080, Mexico City, Mexico

    Erick Alexanderson MD, Nadia Canseco-León MD & Aloha Meave MD

  2. Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico

    Erick Alexanderson MD & Fernando Iñarra MD

  3. Department of Biomedical Sciences and Imaging, and Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Damini Dey PhD

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  1. Erick Alexanderson MD
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  2. Nadia Canseco-León MD
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  3. Fernando Iñarra MD
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  4. Aloha Meave MD
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Correspondence to Erick Alexanderson MD.

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Alexanderson, E., Canseco-León, N., Iñarra, F. et al. Prognostic value of cardiovascular CT: Is coronary artery calcium screening enough? The added value of CCTA. J. Nucl. Cardiol. 19, 601–608 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12350-012-9549-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12350-012-9549-2

Keywords

  • Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC)
  • Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CCTA)
  • Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)