News | Cardiac Imaging | May 02, 2022

Visual Ordinal Scoring of Coronary Artery Calcium on Chest CT

Routine visual ordinal coronary artery calcium assessment on all chest CT examinations could identify a large number of patients who might benefit from preventive therapies

(A) mild, (B) moderate, (C) severe CAC on non-gated contrast-enhanced chest CT. Image courtesy of American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS), American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR)

(A) mild, (B) moderate, (C) severe CAC on non-gated contrast-enhanced chest CT. Image courtesy of American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS), American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR)


May 2, 2022 — According to ARRS’ American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), routine visual ordinal coronary artery calcium (CAC) assessment on all chest CT examinations could identify a large number of patients who might benefit from preventive therapies.

“Visual ordinal CAC assessment on both contrast-enhanced and non-contrast chest CT has high diagnostic performance, prognostic utility, and interobserver agreement,” confirmed corresponding author Kate Hanneman, MD, MPH, from Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network in Ontario.

Hanneman and colleagues’ retrospective study included 260 patients (mean age, 60; 158 male, 102 female) who underwent both non-gated chest CT (contrast-enhanced in 116 patients; non-contrast in 144 patients) and cardiac calcium-score CT within a 12-month interval. A cardiothoracic radiologist visually assessed CAC on chest CT using an ordinal scale: absent, mild, moderate, or severe.

Ultimately, visual ordinal assessment of coronary artery calcium on both contrast-enhanced and non-contrast non-gated chest CT has high sensitivity (83% vs 90%, p=.20) and specificity (100% vs 100%, p=.99), prognostic utility (HR 4.5, p=.02 and HR 3.4, p=.003, respectively), and excellent interobserver agreement (κ=0.89 and κ=0.95, respectively).

“Routine reporting of CAC on all chest CT examinations regardless of clinical indication and contrast material administration could identify a large number of patients with previously unknown CAC who might benefit from preventive treatment,” Hanneman added.

For more information: www.arrs.org

Related Calcium Scoring Content:

Study Finds Removing Cost from Calcium Score Testing Increased Utilization

How the Agatston Calcium Score Was Created and its Impact on Heart Attack Prevention

VIDEO: The History of CT Calcium Scoring — Interview with Arthur Agatston, M.D.

VIDEO: New Cholesterol Guidelines Support CT Calcium Scoring for Risk Assessment — Interview with Matthew Budoff, M.D.

CT Scan For Arterial Plaque is Better at Predicting Heart Attack Than Stroke


Related Content

News | Cardiac Imaging

Cleerly, a leader in cardiovascular imaging, today announced the promotions of two key executives to expanded leadership ...

Home July 02, 2025
Home
News | Cardiac Imaging

June 25, 2025 — Royal Philips and Methodist Hospitals recently announced the healthcare provider’s strategic investment ...

Home June 25, 2025
Home
News | Cardiac Imaging

June 12, 2025 — GE HealthCare has announced the combination of GE HealthCare’s proprietary features and algorithms with ...

Home June 12, 2025
Home
News | Cardiac Imaging

April 1, 2025 — UltraSight recently announced the presentation at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Annual ...

Home April 15, 2025
Home
News | Cardiac Imaging

April 3, 2025 — Tower Health and Siemens Healthineers recently announced a 10-year agreement focused on equipment ...

Home April 04, 2025
Home
News | Cardiac Imaging

Pfizer has awarded $80,000 to Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) to fund an Amyloidosis Fellowship at ...

Home December 19, 2024
Home
News | Cardiac Imaging

Dec. 11, 2024 — Genetesis, Inc. has launched the CardioFlux Membership program. CardioFlux Membership is designed to be ...

Home December 18, 2024
Home
News | Cardiac Imaging

Nov. 13, 2024 – A recent study has demonstrated the value of the single-exposure dual-energy X-ray detector in advancing ...

Home November 13, 2024
Home
News | Cardiac Imaging

Oct. 15, 2024 — Four of the seven Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) have released final local coverage ...

Home October 16, 2024
Home
News | Cardiac Imaging

Oct. 15, 2024 – Elucid has announced that four of the seven Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) will extend ...

Home October 15, 2024
Home
Subscribe Now