Assessing the relationship between American Heart Association atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk score and coronary artery imaging findings

Objective The aim of this study was to characterize the relationship between computed tomography angiography imaging characteristics of coronary artery and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) score. Methods We retrospectively identified all patients who underwent a coronary computed tomography angiography at our institution from December 2013 to July 2016, then we calculated the 10-year ASCVD score. We characterized the relationship between coronary artery imaging findings and ASCVD risk score. Results One hundred fifty-one patients met our inclusion criteria. Patients with a 10-year ASCVD score of 7.5% or greater had significantly more arterial segments showing stenosis (46.4%, P = 0.008) and significantly higher maximal plaque thickness (1.25 vs 0.53, P = 0.001). However, among 56 patients with a 10-year ASCVD score of 7.5% or greater, 30 (53.6%) had no arterial stenosis. Furthermore, among the patients with a 10-year ASCVD score of less than 7.5%, 24 (25.3%) had some arterial stenosis. Conclusions There is some concordance but not a perfect overlap between 10-year ASCVD risk scores and coronary artery imaging findings.