Evolution of Coronary Calcium Screening for Assessment of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk and Role in Preventive Cardiology.

Epidemiologic studies document a strong relation of age, race/ethnicity, and risk factors with the prevalence and extent of CAC. Large-scale registry and prospective investigations show CAC to be the strongest subclinical disease predictor of ASCVD outcomes, with higher CAC scores associated with successively higher risks and those with a CAC score of 0 having a long-term "warranty" against having events. Moreover, CAC is associated with greater initiation of preventive health behaviors and therapy. Current US guidelines utilize CAC to inform the treatment decision for statin therapy. Further study is underway to document whether CAC screening will ultimately improve clinical outcomes. CAC is well established as the most important subclinical cardiovascular disease measure for prediction of future ASCVD outcomes and can be used for informing the treatment decision for preventive therapies.