Prediction of cardiovascular events with traditional risk equations and total plaque area of carotid atherosclerosis

Abstract A large number of cardiovascular events occur in seemingly healthy individuals. Atherosclerosis imaging can improve the outcome and treatment regime of such subjects. We aim to assess the predictive value of atherosclerosis imaging beyond traditional risk calculators in subjects aged 40–65 years. We compared PROCAM, SCORE and FRAM with carotid ultrasound (total plaque area, TPA) and arterial age (AA) was calculated in subjects without known cardiovascular diseases. Follow-up was obtained by phone or mail. In 2842 subjects (age 50 ± 8, 38% women) 154 (5.4%) cardiovascular events occurred (ASCVD: 41 myocardial infarctions, 16 strokes or TIA, 21 CABG, 41 PTCA, 35 coronary artery disea…