Matthew Budoff, MD: Clinical Usefulness of CAC Scores

Among the many outcomes as a result of the fight against heart disease in the US has been the identification and development of biomarkers and tests to predict those at a greater risk of cardiovascular events.

One of these relatively new advances that has been adopted by clinicians is the use of coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring. Through CAC measurements, cardiologists have been able to identify and more effectively manage risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. More recently, studies have begun to shed further light on the ability of this approach to determine risk in specific subgroups based on age, sex, and other factors such as diabetes status.

For more on the use of CAC scoring in real-world settings, check out this interview with Matthew Budoff, MD, director of Cardiovascular CT at The Lundquist Institute and professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.