“Low Risk” Does Not Always Tell the Whole CV Story

The Framingham risk score (FRS), although useful for assessing 10-year risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) events, relies more heavily on advancing age than on other cardiovascular (CV) risk factors (e.g., smoking, blood pressure, and total or LDL cholesterol). For women who are judged to be at low risk according to the FRS (estimated CHD risk <10% in 10 years) but who have other CV risk factors nonetheless, alternative assessments might better guide protective strategies. In the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, researchers evaluated coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores in 2684 women (age range, 45–79; mean age, 60) who were classified as low risk based on the FRS. CHD events (myocardial infarction, angina, resuscitated cardiac arre…