Does the use of US-derived coronary artery calcium (CAC) percentiles accurately reflect the relative CAC burden in the Brazilian population?
Using US-derived CAC percentiles for Brazilian patients may lead to inaccurate risk stratification, highlighting the need for population-specific reference values.
In our sample of the Brazilian population, we observed significant differences in CAC by sex, age, and race. Adjusted for age and sex, low-risk individuals from the Brazilian population present with significantly lower CAC prevalence and burden compared with other low-risk individuals from other worldwide populations. Using US-derived percentiles in Brazilian individuals may lead to overestimating relative CAC burden in men and underestimating relative CAC burden in women.
Pereira et al. (Fri,) studied this question.