TY - JOUR
T1 - The Role of Coronary Artery Calcium Testing for Value-Based Clinical Trials in Primary Prevention
AU - Fentanes, Emilio
AU - Cainzos Achirica, Miguel
AU - Nasir, Khurram
AU - Blankstein, Ron
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2021/11
Y1 - 2021/11
N2 - Purpose of Review: Review the role of coronary artery calcium (CAC) testing in designing future clinical trials in primary prevention. Recent Findings: While there are numerous new agents that have been found to lower cardiovascular event rates in clinical trials, these studies have required a large sample size, in part due to low event rates as well as improved baseline treatments. More precise risk assessment could allow for better identification of individuals who stand to derive the most benefit from various therapies. Coronary CAC testing offers a simple method for identifying high-risk primary prevention cohorts, and thus may allow for improved efficiency of clinical trials, enhanced efficacy of various therapies, and ultimately more favorable cost-effectiveness estimates. Summary: The use of CAC testing as part of the inclusion criteria used in clinical trials may result in identifying high-risk individuals who were previously not included in such studies while achieving favorable absolute risk reductions. The advantages afforded by using CAC to enrich clinical trials offer a potential road map for future clinical trials in primary prevention.
AB - Purpose of Review: Review the role of coronary artery calcium (CAC) testing in designing future clinical trials in primary prevention. Recent Findings: While there are numerous new agents that have been found to lower cardiovascular event rates in clinical trials, these studies have required a large sample size, in part due to low event rates as well as improved baseline treatments. More precise risk assessment could allow for better identification of individuals who stand to derive the most benefit from various therapies. Coronary CAC testing offers a simple method for identifying high-risk primary prevention cohorts, and thus may allow for improved efficiency of clinical trials, enhanced efficacy of various therapies, and ultimately more favorable cost-effectiveness estimates. Summary: The use of CAC testing as part of the inclusion criteria used in clinical trials may result in identifying high-risk individuals who were previously not included in such studies while achieving favorable absolute risk reductions. The advantages afforded by using CAC to enrich clinical trials offer a potential road map for future clinical trials in primary prevention.
KW - Coronary artery calcium
KW - Primary prevention
KW - Road map
KW - Value-based clinical trials
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115117538&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11883-021-00969-6
DO - 10.1007/s11883-021-00969-6
M3 - Review article
C2 - 34523049
AN - SCOPUS:85115117538
SN - 1523-3804
VL - 23
JO - Current Atherosclerosis Reports
JF - Current Atherosclerosis Reports
IS - 11
M1 - 73
ER -