Clinical assessment of vascular calcification

Abstract

Cardiovascular calcification poses an increased risk for cardiovascular events in advanced phases of chronic kidney disease. This evidence has brought many investigators to focus their attention on the importance of detection of calcification and avoidance of further development of it with appropriate therapeutic choices. Physicians can use a variety of noninvasive imaging tools to identify cardiovascular calcification, some with merely qualitative and others with both qualitative and quantitative capabilities. Plain x-rays and ultrasonography can be used to identify macroscopic calcification of aorta and peripheral arteries, echocardiography is helpful for assessment of valvular calcification, and computed tomography technologies constitute the gold standard for quantification of cardiovascular calcification. The latter is also useful to monitor calcification progression and to assess the effect of different therapeutic strategies directed at modifying calcification progression. In this article, we review the clinical significance of vascular calcification and some of the evidence surrounding the most commonly employed noninvasive imaging techniques.