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. 2009 Feb 3;24(10):642–650. doi: 10.1002/clc.4960241003

Assessment of subclinical atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk

R Michael BENITEZ 1,✉, Robert A Vogel 1
PMCID: PMC6654927  PMID: 11594409

Abstract

Conventional cardiac risk factors do not fully explain the incidence of coronary artery disease and coronary events. Risk stratification and therapy based solely on these conventional risk factors may exclude a population who would otherwise benefit from lifestyle and risk factor modification. Recent efforts to improve our ability to recognize individuals and populations at increased risk of coronary events have focused on the noninvasive imaging of atherosclerosis, both in coronary and extracoronary arterial beds, or the identification of “non‐traditional” serum markers. We review the complimentary role of these newer methods of risk stratification in the context of conventional risk factor evaluation.

Keywords: cardiac risk, electron‐beam computed tomography, magnetic resonance angiography, brachial artery reactivity

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