Citation: Viladés-Medel, D.; Dégano,
I.R.; Subirana, I.; Descalzo, M.;
Padilla, M.; Mundet, X.; Carreras
Costa, F.; Alomar Serrallach, X.;
Camps, A.; Elosua, R.; et al.
Usefulness of Cardiac Computed
Tomography in Coronary Risk
Prediction: A Five-Year Follow-Up of
the SPICA Study (Secure Prevention
with Imaging of the Coronary
Arteries). J. Clin. Med. 2022, 11, 533.
https://doi.org/10.3390/
jcm11030533
Academic Editor: Jonathan Townend
Received: 30 November 2021
Accepted: 19 January 2022
Published: 21 January 2022
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Journal of
Clinical Medicine
Article
Usefulness of Cardiac Computed Tomography in Coronary Risk
Prediction: A Five-Year Follow-Up of the SPICA Study (Secure
Prevention with Imaging of the Coronary Arteries)
David Viladés-Medel
1,
* , Irene R. Dégano
2,3,4
, Isaac Subirana
2,3
, Martin Descalzo
1
, Mireia Padilla
1
,
Xavier Mundet
5,6
, Francesc Carreras Costa
1,2,3
, Xavier Alomar Serrallach
7
, Anna Camps
2,3
, Roberto Elosua
2,3,4
,
Jaume Marrugat
2,3
and Rubén Leta Petracca
1
1
Cardiac Imaging Unit, Cardiology Department, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau,
Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Barcelona, Spain; mdescalzo@santpau.cat (M.D.);
mpadillal@santpau.cat (M.P.); FCarreras@santpau.cat (F.C.C.); rleta@santpau.cat (R.L.P.)
2
CIBER de Enfermedades Cardio-Vasculares (CIBERCV), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII),
28029 Madrid, Spain; irene.roman@umedicina.cat (I.R.D.); isubirana@imim.es (I.S.); acamps@imim.es (A.C.);
relosua@imim.es (R.E.); jaume@imim.es (J.M.)
3
REGICOR Study Group, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
4
Faculty of Medicine, University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), 08500 Vic, Spain
5
University Public Health Center El Carmel, Department of Medicine, Universitat Autonoma de
Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Barcelona, Spain; 16274xmt@comb.cat
6
Barcelona Ciutat Research Support Unit-IDIAP Jordi Gol, redIAPP, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
7
Radiology Department, Clínica Creu Blanca, 08034 Barcelona, Spain; xalomar@creublanca.es
* Correspondence: dvilades@santpau.cat
Abstract: Accurate identification of individuals at high coronary risk would reduce acute coronary
syndrome incidence and morbi-mortality. We analyzed the effect on coronary risk prediction of
adding coronary artery calcification (CAC) and Segment Involvement Score (SIS) to cardiovascular
risk factors. This was a prospective cohort study of asymptomatic patients recruited between
2013–2017. All participants underwent a coronary computed tomography angiography to determine
CAC and SIS. The cohort was followed-up for a composite endpoint of myocardial infarction, coronary
angiography and/or revascularization (median = five years). Discrimination and reclassification
of the REGICOR function with CAC/SIS were examined with the Sommer’s D index and with the
Net reclassification index (NRI). Nine of the 251 individuals included had an event. Of the included
participants, 94 had a CAC = 0 and 85 a SIS = 0, none of them had an event. The addition of SIS or of
SIS and CAC to the REGICOR risk function significantly increased the discrimination capacity from
0.74 to 0.89. Reclassification improved significantly when SIS or both scores were included. CAC
and SIS were associated with five-year coronary event incidence, independently of cardiovascular
risk factors. Discrimination and reclassification of the REGICOR risk function were significantly
improved by both indexes, but SIS overrode the effect of CAC.
Keywords: coronary artery disease risk; cardiac computed tomography; coronary artery calcium;
primary prevention
1. Introduction
In the next decades, an increasing incidence of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is
expected in Spain, mainly due to the aging of the population. Up to 60% of all ACS cases
will occur in the elderly population by 2049 [1]. The most cost-effective way to control the
significant health and mortality burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is to reduce its
incidence by identifying high-risk populations. To improve the sensitivity and specificity
of identifying high-risk individuals, imaging biomarkers could be included in CVD or
coronary artery disease (CAD) risk functions [2,3].
J. Clin. Med. 2022, 11, 533. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11030533 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jcm