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Review
. 2016 Apr;4(8):159.
doi: 10.21037/atm.2016.04.08.

Coronary artery calcification in clinical practice: what we have learned and why should it routinely be reported on chest CT?

Joseph Shemesh  1
Affiliations
Review

Coronary artery calcification in clinical practice: what we have learned and why should it routinely be reported on chest CT?

Joseph Shemesh. Ann Transl Med. 2016 Apr.

Abstract

The recent acceptance of low dose chest computed tomography (LDCT) as a screening modality for early lung cancer detection will significantly increase the number of LDCT among high risk population. The target subjects are at the same time at high risk to develop cardiovascular (CV) events. The routine report on coronary artery calcification (CAC) will therefore, enhances the screening benefit by providing the clinicians with an additive powerful risk stratification tool for the management or primary prevention of CV events. This review will provide the radiologists with helpful information for the daily practice regarding on what is CAC, its clinical applications and how to diagnose, quantify and report on CAC while reading the LDCT.

Keywords: Atherosclerosis (AS); chest computed tomography (chest CT); coronary artery calcification (CAC); risk prediction.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The author has no conflicts of interest to declare.

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