Carotid artery imaging is more strongly associated with the 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease score than coronary artery imaging

Your doctor can discuss the pros and cons of each. My carotid arteries were scanned by ultrasound while I did the stress test with angiogram for the coronary. My right carotid was fully blocked but now it seems collaterals have opened around it.  I guess two small coronaries at the back of the heart are 30% blocked, doctor doesn't seem concerned.

This seems to be coming soon:

Noninvasive Imaging in Coronary Artery Disease

 

Carotid artery imaging is more strongly associated with the 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease score than coronary artery imaging 

Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography — Li Ying, Zhu G, Ding V, et al. | September 24, 2019

Researchers compared coronary with carotid artery imaging, and determined which one demonstrates the strongest association with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) score. They included two separate series patients (n = 110 in each group) who completed either coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) or carotid CTA, and they recorded the ASCVD scores and evaluated the CTA imaging. Two-thirds were used to develop predictive models, and one-third generated predicted ASCVD scores. The investigators used Bland-Altman analysis to analyze the concordance. Overall, there were no significant differences between clinical characteristics. Three imaging variables were included in the carotid model, and two coronary models (presence of calcium or Agatston score) were created. The bias between true and predicted ASCVD scores was 0.37 ± 5.72% on the carotid model, and 2.07 ± 7.18% and 2.47 ± 7.82% on coronary artery models, respectively. According to findings, carotid and coronary artery imaging features may predict ASCVD score. However, the carotid artery was more strongly associated with the ASCVD score than the coronary artery.

Read the full article on Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography