Introduction:

The detection and quantification of the atherosclerotic burden by non-invasive imaging techniques is a marker increasingly used in the evaluation and re-stratification of cardiovascular risk. The quantification of the atherosclerosis burden for the assessment of cardiovascular risk therefore requires a precise tool, since the risk increases proportionally to the burden of subclinical disease.

Objective:

To deepen the non-invasive imaging techniques that allow the imaginological quantification of the global atherosclerotic burden in its subclinical phase and its importance in the early reassessment of cardiovascular risk.

Development:

Among all imaging modalities, the coronary calcium score by computed tomography and the quantification of the atherosclerosis burden by three-dimensional vascular ultrasound have been shown to improve the assessment of individual cardiovascular risk above conventional risk scales based on presence of traditional risk factors, since it directly identifies the disease and reclassifies individuals at low and intermediate risk more effectively.

Conclusions:

The non-invasive imaginological quantification of the atherosclerotic burden significantly improves the accuracy and precision in the prediction of the globally validated global cardiovascular risk estimation scales, as it increases their discrimination and reclassification capacity of the population at risk of cardiovascular disease.

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