Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Cardiology

Quantifying the amount of CAC with non-enhanced CT scans has been widely accepted as a reliable non-invasive technique for screening patients with a potential risk of developing major cardiac events, and is usually quantified using the Agatston score.⁽²{u⁰²BE}⁴⁾̕̕̕ The clinical application of CAC scoring has been supported by evidence showing that the absence of calcium reliably excludes obstructive coronary artery stenosis,(5)and that the amount of CAC is a strong predictor for risk assessment of myocardial infarction and sudden cardiac death, independent of conventional coronary risk factors.⁽⁶{u⁰²BE}⁷⁾ However, its predictive value is, at the end, determined by the patients' symptoms. In symptomatic patients, CAC scoring is considered as being only marginally related to the degree of coronary stenosis, and it is well known that both obstructive and non-obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) can occur in the absence of calcification.⁽⁸{u⁰²BE}⁹⁾

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