Meneghelo et al Ultrafast computer tomography in assymptomatic white menCoronary atherosclerosis is one of the major causes of death among us 1 . Atherosclerosis is a multifactorial disease, and the identification of individuals at high risk for coronary events is extremely important, because preventive therapies, such as change in lifestyle and use of drugs, such as statins and acetylsalicylic acid, significantly reduce clinical events and mortality 2 . Classically, the risk stratification of coronary events has been performed through the analysis of a set of risk factors. However, epidemiological data have shown that approximately 25% of the individuals who died suddenly due to cardiac causes had no previous symptoms, and even the classical tools for assessing the risk of coronary events, such as the Framingham scores, have limitations in identifying high-risk individuals 3,4 . Approximately 50% of the coronary deaths and most myocardial infarctions occur in individuals considered at low to intermediate risk, according to clinical and laboratory parameters 3 . Therefore, assessment of subclinical atherosclerosis through imaging techniques may be useful for risk stratification, because evidence exists that the load of the atherosclerotic plaque correlates with the risk of coronary events [5][6] .Coronary artery calcification ( fig. 1), detected on ultrafast computed tomography or electron beam computed tomography, correlates with the load of the atherosclerotic plaque in histological, angiographic, and intravascular ultrasound studies [7][8][9][10] . Ultrafast computed tomography is a noninvasive and very sensitive method to detect calcification in coronary arteries 7 . Evidence exists that the presence of coronary artery calcification on ultrafast computed tomography may be a risk marker of clinical events in coronary artery disease, independent of the risk factors for atherosclerosis [11][12][13][14] . Up to now, coronary artery calcium scores in the Brazilian population have not been reported.This study aimed at describing the distribution of coronary artery calcium scores in a population sample of asymptomatic white Brazilian men undergoing assessment on ultrafast computed tomography. 40-44 years, 45-49 years, 50-54 years, 55-59 years, 60-64 years, and >65 years.
Objective -To describe the distribution of coronary artery calcium scores in a population of asymptomatic white Brazilian men undergoing assessment with ultrafast computed tomography.
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