The addition of calcium scoring to absolute cardiovascular risk calculators may lead to overtreatment and ultimately cause more harm than good, Australian clinicians warn.

Although CT coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores can help to refine the absolute CVD risk in select patients, evidence-based medicine researchers have questioned proposed widespread use in primary prevention.

“At present, no evidence suggests that adding CAC [scores] to traditional risk scores provides clinical benefit,” says the team, from the University of Sydney and Bond University on the Gold Coast.

Their finding comes almost a year after the National Heart Foundation of Australia released guidance on the diagnostic tool, which stated that doctors could consider its use in patients at moderate absolute risk of CVD.