1. The Use of Cardiac CT in the Identification of High Risk Patients with CVD
Wm. Guy Weigold, MD, FACC, FSCCT Director of Cardiac CT
Washington Hospital Center
Washington, D.C.

2. Guy Weigold, MD
I have no real or apparent conflicts of interest to report.

3. Cardiac CT: Coronary CT Angiography

4. Cardiac CT: Coronary Calcium Scan
1990
Calcium scoring method
Agatston, Janowitz, Hildner, Zusmer, Viamonte, Detrano
Agatston AS et al. JACC 1990; 15:827-32

5. The Problem
Coronary Heart Disease remains a leading cause of death and disability
> 45% of MI’s are fatal
> ½ million deaths per year (US)
> 4 million deaths (all CVD) per yr (Europe)
25% of deaths from CHD occur before hospitalization
At least 25% of SCD and non-fatal MI occur without prior symptoms
Heart and Stroke Statistical Update.
European Guidelines on CVD Prevention. EHJ 2007 (28)
Myerburg RJ, Kessler KM, Castellanos A. Ann Int Med. 1993;119:

6. The Detection Gap

7. The Detection Gap ATP III: 36 million in US require Rx for LDL
10-15 million in US on lipid-lowering Rx
Est. prevalence of HTN: 50 million in US
Guidelines est. one-third HTN undetected
Est. 650,000 primary SCD and MI per year
High risk individuals: 2% risk per year
32 million at high risk

8. 34th Bethesda Conference (Oct. 2002)
“A major problem of detection, treatment, and prevention of CHD exists in the large population who have no symptoms of heart disease yet are at increased risk to develop CHD.”
“A detection gap in CHD prognosis exists. The precise size of this gap is unknown, but is likely substantial.”

9. Current Approach to Cardiac Risk Stratification
Greenland P, Smith JS Jr, Grundy. Circulation 2001; 104:1863-7

10. Is There a Role for Non-Invasive Testing in Risk Stratification?
Most clinical risk predictors are only moderately accurate and may underestimate or misclassify patients
Wilson PW, D'Agostino RB, Levy D, et al. Circulation 1998; 97:
Multivariate risk prediction based on Framingham data
AUC = 0.7

11. Broad Intermediate Risk Group
NHANES
Men and Women
Ford et al, JACC 2004;43:1791 11

12. Rationale for an imaging approach
Pathologic substrate is required for event
Quantification of disease burden
Disease burden should correlate with events
Calcium!

13. Arterial Calcification is an Integral Part of Arterial Wall Plaque
Calcification colocalizes with macrophages and SMC.
Good correlation with overall plaque burden
Poor correlation with stenosis

14. The “Calcium Score”
CAC score = Area x weighting factor
Originally developed with EBCT- subsequently with MDCT
Good reproducibility, low radiation exposure
Alternative scoring systems improve reproducibility
Volume scoring
Mass scoring
The calcium score is derived from regions of interest drawn around foci of calcium, measured according to their area and density. The sum of the area and density product terms for all the CT scan slices gives us the calcium score. 14

15. Comparable CACS by EBCT and MDCT
AJR 2004; 183: 15

16. Incremental predictive value of CACS
Arch Intern Med. 2004;164(12):

17. From JACC 2007 consensus: CHD death or MI
Higher CAC scores associated with higher event (CHD death or MI) rates and higher RR ratios
High risk rate: 4.6%
Very high risk rate: 7.1%
(rates at 3-5 years)
Summary RR ratios reveal that higher CAC scores are associated with higher event rates and higher RR ratios.
An average CAC risk score (CACS 1-112) associated with summary RR ratio of 1.9 compared to CACS=0.
At higher risk scores, RR increases in an incremental fashion, to as high as 10.8 when CACS > 1000.
Pools CHD death or MI rates at the “high risk” and “very high risk” categories were 4.6% and 7.1% at 3 to 5 yr.
Greenland P, Bonow RO, Brundage BH, et al. JACC 2007;49:

18. Following this meta-analysis, 4 more prospective studies
South Bay Heart Watch: Middle aged, higher risk
PACC Project: Aged 40-50, low risk
Taylor et al, JACC 2005;46:
Greenland. JAMA 2004;291:
Rotterdam: Elderly
St. Francis: Middle aged
2-10X  risk
Guerci et al. JACC 2005;46:158
Vliegenthart. Circulation 2005;112:572

19. Pooled data from 4 studies: Intermediate Framingham risk patients only (10-20% 10-yr risk)
All patients initially classified as intermediate risk (10-20% 10-yr risk) based on Framingham
Analysis of pooled data from 4 studies looking only at individuals at intermediate risk by Framingham risk score demonstrates that while indeed the average risk was in the 10-20% 10-yr risk range, those in the highest tertile of CACS (400 or greater) actually had an event rate that meets the definition of HIGH 10-yr risk (>20% 10-yr risk). This suggesting that especially within this INTERMEDIATE risk group, there is heterogeneity, and that CACS can be used to identify individuals who, despite being at INTERMEDIATE Framingham risk, will actually face a HIGH-risk event rate. These patients would then be treated more aggressively, essentially with secondary prevention measures: lifestyle modification with weight loss, diet, and exercise; smoking cessation; a BP goal of 115/70; an LDL goal of 70; an HDL goal of ???; an A1c goal of ???; a ??? goal of ???.

20. CACS is an INDEPENDENT predictor (above and beyond clinical risk assessment)
Budoff MJ, Achenbach S, Blumenthal RS, et al. Circ 2006;114:

21. Prognosis is excellent in setting of zero or very low CAC scores
…but not 0 when CACS=0
Number of vessels involved is important
Even with CAC < 100
Check journals: JACC, JACC imaging, Circ, Circ imaging, NEJM, JAMA, AJC, Arch IM, Annals IM for calcium
J Am Coll Cardiol 2007;49:1860–70 21

22. The mortality rate associated with a CACS=0 is 0
The mortality rate associated with a CACS=0 is 0.87/1000 person-yr 44,052 asympto adults referred by risk ff; screening EBCT
Men
Women
Blaha M, Budoff MJ, Shaw LJ, et al. JACC Img 2009;2:

23. Meta-analysis of 71,595 asymptomatic adults Mean f/u 4 yr
29,312 (41%) had CACS=0  0.47% had event
42,283 had CAC  4.14% had event
RR ratio 0.15 [ , p<0.001]
Sarwar A, Shaw LJ, Shapiro MD, et al. JACC Img. 2009;2:675-88

24. 2010 ACCF/AHA Guideline for Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk in Asymptomatic Adults
Developed in Collaboration with the American Society of Echocardiography, American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, Society of Atherosclerosis Imaging and Prevention, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography, and Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance

25. Recommendations for Calcium Scoring Methods
Measurement of CAC is reasonable for cardiovascular risk assessment in asymptomatic adults at intermediate risk (10% to 20% 10-year risk.
Measurement of CAC may be reasonable for cardiovascular risk assessment in adults at low to intermediate risk (6% to 10% 10-year risk).
Persons at low risk (<6% 10-year risk) should not undergo CAC measurement for cardiovascular risk assessment. B I
IIa
IIb
III B I
IIa
IIb
III B I
IIa
IIb
III

26. Risk Assessment Considerations for Patients with Diabetes Mellitus
In asymptomatic adults with diabetes, 40 years of age and older, measurement of CAC is reasonable for cardiovascular risk assessment.
Measurement of hemoglobin A1C may be considered for cardiovascular risk assessment in asymptomatic adults with diabetes.
Stress MPI may be considered for advanced cardiovascular risk assessment in asymptomatic adults with diabetes or when previous risk assessment testing suggests high risk of CHD, such as a CAC score of 400 or greater. B I
IIa
IIb
III B I
IIa
IIb
III I
IIa
IIb
III

27. Recommendations for Myocardial Perfusion Imaging
Stress MPI may be considered for advanced cardiovascular risk assessment in asymptomatic adults with diabetes or asymptomatic adults with a strong family history of CHD or when previous risk assessment testing suggests high risk of CHD, such as a coronary artery calcium (CAC) score of 400 or greater.
Stress MPI is not indicated for cardiovascular risk assessment in low- or intermediate-risk asymptomatic adults. (Exercise or pharmacologic stress MPI is a technology primarily used and studied for its role in advanced cardiac evaluation of symptoms suspected of representing CHD and/or estimation of prognosis in patients with known coronary artery disease.) I
IIa
IIb
III I
IIa
IIb
III

28. Summary CHD is widespread and there is a significant detection gap
Clinical risk stratification tools alone may underestimate and misclassify risk
Coronary calcium scanning predicts CHD events, independent of and in addition to clinical risk stratification
Best suited for intermediate and low-to-intermediate risk population
Absence of coronary calcium confers excellent prognosis

29. Thank you