Coronary artery calcium scans, a quick CT test that has grown popular with people worried about heart disease, added only a small improvement to standard risk estimates for most adults in a 10-year study of more than 6,000 people, Northwestern Medicine researchers reported in JAMA.
The scans made a bigger difference for one group: adults whose initial estimate fell in the borderline or intermediate range, defined in the study as a 3% to 9% estimated risk of cardiovascular disease within 10 years. For them, the calcium score helped clarify who was actually more or less likely to have an event.
