Chest size swings calcium scores on CT scans

Does chest size, since it is related to obesity, affect calcium scores? Dutch researchers aimed to find out, having previously found an association between obesity and coronary calcium scores, and shown that CT image quality deteriorates with increased body weight.

Accuracy matters, considering that so many obese people are undergoing coronary calcium scoring exams with CT.

Dr. Neils van der Werf, Dr. Martin Willemink, and colleagues from University Medical Center Utrecht decided to investigate the effect of chest size on coronary calcium scores as assessed with state-of-the-art CT systems from the four major vendors, scanning a hydroxyapatite-containing phantom.

In this presentation, you'll find out just how different estimates were from each vendor, and how much calcium scores can be underestimated depending on chest size.

"Our results suggest that the association between obesity and raised coronary calcium scores is even stronger" than previously thought, Willemink told AuntMinnie.com.