Coronary calcium screening and coronary risk stratification.

Current vital statistics clearly indicate a continuing epidemic of cardiovascular disease in the Western hemisphere and strongly suggest that the most desirable approach to this ailment is prevention rather than delayed treatment. Over 7 million people in the United States suffer from coronary artery disease and more than 500,000 die from its complications annually. In the majority of cases, the event announcing the presence of atherosclerosis is either sudden death or a disabling myocardial infarction or stroke. Though recent trials indicate a need for treatment of very large segments of the population, a review of current clinical practices indicates that the preventive attitude of the majority of physicians is not sufficiently developed and remains limited in most training programs. Additionally, although traditional risk factors are very helpful in predicting the development of cardiovascular disease, many individuals suffer events in the absence of established risk factors for atherosclerosis. To meet the challenge of coronary artery disease, several tools have been developed to identify atherosclerotic disease in its preclinical stages, with the hope of modifying its natural history. In this article, we review the current literature on utilization of electron beam tomography for detection of coronary artery calcification as a tool to conduct risk stratification for coronary artery disease events in the general population.