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On the fence about a statin? In borderline cases, calcium scans could be a tiebreaker
Developing
But in a secondary analysis of people considered at intermediate or borderline risk by PREVENT, a different answer emerged, co-author Nilay Shah, a preventive cardiologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine who studies risk prediction for cardiovascular disease, said.
“The main message is that not everyone needs a CAC scan and CAC zero should not be used as a veto against statin therapy,” he said. As the foundation for guidelines issued earlier this year by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association , their goal is to identify precursors of serious cardiovascular events by relying on blood pressure, cholesterol, age, family history, and current illnesses such as inflammatory disease, diabetes, kidney disease, cancer, HIV, and certain reproductive conditions.
“CAC may still help explain risk, improve adherence, and guide how intensive prevention should be, but generally should not be used to avoid treatment,” Shapiro said. The JAMA study published Wednesday also found that overall, CAC did not change the predictions made by PREVENT.
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What's still developing
- As the foundation for guidelines issued earlier this year by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association , their goal is to identify precursors of serious cardiovascular events by relying on…
- “The main message is that not everyone needs a CAC scan and CAC zero should not be used as a veto against statin therapy,” he said.
- The JAMA study published Wednesday also found that overall, CAC did not change the predictions made by PREVENT.
- But in a secondary analysis of people considered at intermediate or borderline risk by PREVENT, a different answer emerged, co-author Nilay Shah, a preventive cardiologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School…
- “CAC may still help explain risk, improve adherence, and guide how intensive prevention should be, but generally should not be used to avoid treatment,” Shapiro said.
Sources
- STAT News — source text fetched for this pass link