MESA Coronary Calcium Percentile
MESA / McClelland 2006 + 2018 AHA/ACCPlaces an Agatston coronary artery calcium score in the MESA reference distribution for the patient’s age, sex and ethnicity (White/Black/Hispanic/Chinese), reporting the approximate percentile alongside the standard 0 / 1–99 / 100–399 / ≥400 categories and the peer probability of any detectable calcium.
Also searched as: CAC · Agatston · ASCVD risk · cardiac CT · heart
Information
Incomplete input
- Please provide: total Agatston CAC score (AU), patient age (years), patient sex, ethnicity (White / Black / Hispanic / Chinese).
How this tool works
The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis measured coronary calcium in 6814 adults aged 45–84 without clinical cardiovascular disease, and McClelland (2006) published the resulting score distribution by age, sex and ethnicity. Because expected calcium rises steeply with age and differs by sex and ethnicity, a modest absolute score can be abnormal in a young patient yet unremarkable in an older one. This tool interpolates the published MESA anchor values (25th/50th/75th/90th percentiles and the probability of non-zero calcium at nine anchor ages, harvested from the official MESA reference-value tool and verified against the values reproduced in the AHA Statistical Updates) and estimates where the observed score falls. A score at or above the ~75th percentile — like an absolute score of 100 AU or more — is a statin-indicating threshold under the 2018 AHA/ACC guideline for intermediate-risk adults. The estimate is a table-based approximation of the official tool’s exact percentile.
References
- McClelland RL et al. MESA CAC distribution, Circulation 2006;113:30-37
- MESA CAC Score Reference Values tool (official percentile source)
- 2018 AHA/ACC Cholesterol Guideline (CAC ≥100 AU or ≥75th percentile)
Implemented from the cited published sources. Educational use only; confirm against current guidelines before clinical use.
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