Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, 1124 W. Carson Street, Torrance, CA 90502, USA.
Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2011 Oct;13(5):353-8. doi: 10.1007/s11883-011-0191-2.
Coronary artery calcium (CAC) score correlates strongly with the burden of atherosclerotic plaques in the coronary arteries. It is the strongest predictor of future coronary events in asymptomatic individuals, being stronger than all traditional risk factors combined. It is also a better predictor of future events than carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) measurement for the prediction of coronary artery disease but slightly weaker than CIMT for the prediction of cerebrovascular events such as stroke. These findings have been validated by the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), a prospective epidemiologic study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigating the prevalence, correlates, and progression of atherosclerosis in an asymptomatic, ethnically diverse population. That is why the US national guidelines have recently elevated their recommendation levels to Class IIa for use of CAC and CIMT in risk stratification of the asymptomatic intermediate-risk population.
冠状动脉钙（CAC）评分与冠状动脉粥样硬化斑块负担密切相关。它是无症状个体未来发生冠状动脉事件的最强预测指标，比所有传统危险因素的综合预测能力都要强。对于预测冠状动脉疾病，它也是比颈动脉内膜中层厚度（CIMT）测量更好的未来事件预测指标，但对于预测如中风等脑血管事件，它稍弱于 CIMT。这些发现已被美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）赞助的多民族动脉粥样硬化研究（MESA）所验证，这是一项前瞻性的流行病学研究，旨在调查无症状、种族多样化人群中动脉粥样硬化的流行率、相关因素和进展情况。这就是为什么美国国家指南最近将 CAC 和 CIMT 在无症状中危人群的风险分层中的推荐级别提升到 IIa 类的原因。
