AHA Scientific Sessions 2026 AbstractNov 9, 2026, 04:14 GMT

Calcium scans led to fewer statin recommendations in women

Scan guidance prompted statin recommendations for 18% of women versus 67% with a traditional risk score, without a statistically significant difference in major health outcomes.

Paper by Jeffrey Anderson, Heidi T May, Tyler Winslow, +5Joseph B Muhlestein · Intermountain Med Cntr

A coronary artery cross-section with calcium deposits sits below groups of women with sparse versus numerous molecular forms and similarly open arteries.

Our read

Interventions

Studied:: Randomized trial in 2,743 women without diabetes or previous statin use, 4.2±1.2 years
What changed:: Statin recommendations were lower with calcium scans: 18% of women versus 67% with the traditional risk score
The catch:: The primary cardiovascular outcome did not clearly differ; its interval included benefit and harm
In the record:: One of 3 papers on coronary artery calcium-guided statin recommendations on record: 2 with results in people.

Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News

Paper

Among 5,329 patients without diabetes who had never taken statins, 2,743 were women in a randomized trial comparing two ways to guide statin recommendations. Statins are cholesterol-lowering drugs. Recommendations followed either a score based on traditional risk factors or scans measuring calcium in plaque in the heart’s arteries. Study duration averaged 4.2 years.

In the planned analysis of women, scan guidance led to recommendations to consider or start statins for 18%, versus 67% with the risk score. The main outcome combined death, nonfatal heart attack, nonfatal stroke, or procedures to restore arterial blood flow. Neither this combined outcome nor death differed significantly between the groups.

Why it matters

Preventing cardiovascular disease in women raises the question of how best to select who should receive statins. The trial tested two approaches to that decision.

Caveats

The range of likely effects included both fewer and more major events with scan guidance, so the findings do not establish that the strategies were equally effective. The conference abstract did not report side-effect comparisons, and the findings do not cover women with diabetes or previous statin use.