Longevity & AgingRoutine Chest CT Scans Can Predict Heart Disease Risk Without Extra Testing
Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores extracted from routine, nongated chest CT scans — performed for unrelated reasons — can accurately predict cardiovascular disease risk, a new cohort study found. Patients with moderate or severe calcium scores had 2 to 5 times higher risk of heart disease compared to those with zero calcium. Crucially, these nongated scans performed nearly as well as dedicated gated cardiac CT scans, which require ECG equipment. This means millions of existing chest scans done annually could be mined for heart risk information without additional radiation, cost, or specialized equipment. U.S. guidelines now endorse this approach, and experts say wide clinical implementation should begin immediately.
