Coronary Artery Calcium (Agatston) Score Categories
Agatston 1990 + MESA 2006 + 2018 AHA/ACCBands a total Agatston coronary artery calcium score into the standard categories (0, 1–99, 100–399, ≥400) with guideline-based risk interpretation, statin-decision context from the 2018 AHA/ACC guideline, and MESA age/sex/ethnicity percentile guidance.
Also searched as: coronary calcium · CAC · cardiac CT · ASCVD risk · MESA · heart
Information
Incomplete input
- Please provide: total Agatston CAC score (AU).
How this tool works
The Agatston score, computed by scanner software as the sum over all calcified coronary lesions of lesion area multiplied by a peak-density weighting factor, is the most widely used quantitative measure of coronary atherosclerotic burden. Absolute score categories stratify future cardiovascular event risk, and the 2018 AHA/ACC cholesterol guideline uses CAC to refine statin decisions in intermediate-risk adults: CAC 0 can justify deferring therapy, 1–99 favors treatment, and ≥100 (or ≥75th percentile) indicates statin therapy. Because a given score means different things at different ages, sexes and ethnicities, the MESA reference distribution (McClelland 2006) provides percentile context — a modest absolute score can still be high for a young patient.
References
- Agatston AS et al. J Am Coll Cardiol 1990;15:827-32 (PubMed)
- McClelland RL et al. MESA CAC distribution, Circulation 2006;113:30-37
- MESA CAC percentile / reference-value tool
- 2018 AHA/ACC Cholesterol Guideline, Circulation 2019;139:e1082-e1143
Implemented from the cited published sources. Educational use only; confirm against current guidelines before clinical use.
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