Contrary to guidelines, the absence of coronary artery calcium doesn’t rule out coronary artery disease in symptomatic patients, researchers found in a new study.
In a multicenter clinical trial, 19% of patients with a coronary calcium score of 0 had stenosis of at least 50% in one or more coronary artery segments, according to Carlos E. Rochitte, MD, of the University of São Paulo, Brazil, and colleagues.
Likewise, 20% of vessels seen to be totally occluded on revascularization had no calcium on scans, they reported in the Feb. 16 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
“The absence of coronary calcification should not be used as a gatekeeper and should not prevent a symptomatic patient from undergoing angiography,” the researchers wrote.
Oops.
lifeunderwriter.net 