Thursday, December 4 | 1:50 p.m.-2:00 p.m. | R6-SSCA11-3 | Room E353C
Calcium volume is the crucial factor in the prediction of major adverse cardiac event (MACE) risk among patients not on lipid-lowering medication, researchers have reported.
In a Thursday afternoon presentation, Marly van Assen, PhD, of Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA, will share findings from a study she and colleagues conducted that included data from coronary artery calcium (CAC) CT imaging from 2,647 individuals without known heart disease who were not taking lipid-lowering medications between 2010 and 2023.
The investigators analyzed cardiac CT images and extracted CAC scores, CAC average density, and CAC total volume, and identified MACE events during the study period from CPT codes. Participants were divided into four groups:
- High density and high volume
- High density and low volume
- Low density and high volume
- Low density and low volume
They reported that the total number of patients who experienced a major adverse cardiac event was 263, or 9% of the cohort. Median total CAC score was 46, median calcium density was 195 Hounsfield units, and median calcium volume was 49 mm³. Most patients were classified in either the high-density and high-volume group or the low-density and low-volume group (both 37%).
The research's key finding was that groups with high calcium volume -- regardless of density -- had significantly higher rates of MACE compared with low-volume groups, with a p-value of < 0.001, it concluded.
