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Discrepancy between coronary artery calcium score and HeartScore in middle-aged Danes: the DanRisk study

2011; Oxford University Press; Volume: 19; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/1741826711409172

2047-4881

Axel Diederichsen, Niels Peter Rønnow Sand, Bjarne Linde Nørgaard, Jess Lambrechtsen, Jesper Møller Jensen, Henrik Munkholm, Ahmed Abdel Aziz, Oke Gerke, Kenneth Egstrup, Mogens Lytken Larsen, Henrik Petersen, Poul Flemming Høilund‐Carlsen, Hans Mickley,

Acute Myocardial Infarction Research

Background: Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is an independent and incremental risk marker. This marker has previously not been compared to the HeartScore risk model. Design: A random sample of 1825 citizens (men and women, 50 or 60 years of age) was invited for screening. Methods: Using the HeartScore model, the 10-year risk of fatal cardiovascular events based on gender, age, smoking, systolic blood pressure, and total cholesterol was estimated. A low risk was defined as <5%. The CAC score was calculated from a non-contrast enhanced cardiac-CT scan and given in Agatston U. Results: A total of 1257 (69%) of the invited subjects were interested in the screening. Due to previous cardiovascular disease or diabetes mellitus, 101 were excluded. Of the remaining 1156, 47% were men and 53% women; one half were 50 years old and the other half 60 years old. A low HeartScore was found in 901 of which 334 (37%) had CAC. A high HeartScore was recorded in 251 of which 80 (32%) did not have any CAC. High HeartScores and CAC were significantly more common in males than females. Conclusions: CAC is common in healthy middle-aged Danes with a low HeartScore, and, on the contrary, high-risk subjects very frequently do not have CAC. The therapeutic and prognostic implications of these observations remain to be clarified.