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The role of coronary artery calcification scoring in primary prevention of cerebrovascular disease
  • Ahmed Alkhatib,
  • Ahmed El-Sayed,
  • Eshak Bahbah
Ahmed Alkhatib
King Hussein Cancer Center

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Ahmed El-Sayed
Ain Shams University Faculty of Medicine
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Eshak Bahbah
Al-Azhar University Faculty of Medicine
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Abstract

Atherosclerosis is considered a systemic disease, and its presence in any site of the arterial system in the body raises suspicion of its presence somewhere else. Since atherothrombosis represents the most common cause of stroke, it is important to investigate whether coronary artery calcification, a commonly used measure of cardiac atherosclerotic burden, can be a similarly useful measure of atherosclerotic burden in the brain. This review aimed to summarize the current evidence regarding the role of CAC in the detection and prevention of cerebrovascular disease. CAC is an independent risk factor of stroke development, and using it to supplement traditional risk factors may allow better identification of higher-risk groups. Intermediate risk patients with elevated CAC scores can be started on statin therapy. CAC score may hold promise in identifying patient groups most likely to benefit from aspirin therapy. In addition, it may have a role in the identification of stroke patients who may benefit from closer cardiac monitoring as it can aid traditional scores in the detection of coronary pathology in stroke survivors.
12 Mar 2020Submitted to Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice
16 Mar 2020Submission Checks Completed
16 Mar 2020Assigned to Editor