Coronary calcium scoring for guiding lipid‐lowering therapy is cost‐effective: time to remove barriers to its use

Widespread, inexpensive CAC scanning could economically expand access to statin therapy to those at highest risk

Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores, in combination with traditional cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, can help identify who would obtain the most and who the least benefit from statin treatment.1 However, there are drawbacks to routinely incorporating CAC scores into CVD risk assessment, including the direct medical cost ($US50–250 per scan in the United States) and indirect costs (time required for CAC scanning, incidentaloma detection, subsequent rescanning) for patients and the health care system.