Comparison of coronary artery calcification scores and National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines for coronary heart disease risk assessment and treatment paradigms in individuals with chronic traumatic spinal cord injury

This study investigates the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) using two different methods: the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) guidelines and CT coronary artery calcium scores (CCS). The NCEP guidelines use the Framingham risk score (FRS), which considers factors like cholesterol levels, age, sex, smoking history, and blood pressure. CCS is a non-invasive measure of subclinical atherosclerosis. The study compares the risk assessments and treatment recommendations made by the two methods to see if they agree. Disagreement could suggest that CCS might be a useful screening tool for people with SCI.

• 1
  There was substantial disagreement between the FRS-based risk and treatment eligibility classification algorithm recommended by the NCEP and the CCS-based algorithm examined in this sample of individuals with chronic SCI.
• 2
  Only 36.4% of participants who might qualify for treatment based on CCS also qualified for treatment based on the NCEP/FRS algorithm.
• 3
  CCS was associated with age and the FRS, but was not related to duration of injury, total number of risk factors, systolic blood pressure, lipids, or level of injury in this small sample.