Evidence mapPaperPMID 42517890Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging2026

Hidden risk in normal myocardial perfusion scans: AI-detected proximal coronary calcium on CT attenuation maps improves prognosis.

Jianhang Zhou, Robert J H Miller, Aakash Shanbhag, Aditya Killekar, Donghee Han, Krishna K Patel, Konrad Pieszko, Jirong Yi, Meghana Kiran Urs, Giselle Ramirez and 29 more

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Article in European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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5 · Who and what money

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39 authors.

Jianhang ZhouDepartments of Medicine (Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine), Biomedical Sciences, and Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 6500 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9514-1695
Robert J H MillerDepartments of Medicine (Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine), Biomedical Sciences, and Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 6500 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA.
Aakash ShanbhagDepartments of Medicine (Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine), Biomedical Sciences, and Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 6500 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA.
Aditya KillekarDepartments of Medicine (Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine), Biomedical Sciences, and Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 6500 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA.
Donghee HanDepartments of Medicine (Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine), Biomedical Sciences, and Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 6500 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA.
Krishna K PatelDepartments of Medicine (Cardiology) and Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Konrad PieszkoDepartment of Interventional Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, University of Zielona Góra, Zielona Góra, Poland.
Jirong YiDepartments of Medicine (Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine), Biomedical Sciences, and Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 6500 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA.
Meghana Kiran UrsDepartments of Medicine (Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine), Biomedical Sciences, and Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 6500 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA.
Giselle RamirezDepartments of Medicine (Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine), Biomedical Sciences, and Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 6500 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA.
Mark LemleyDepartments of Medicine (Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine), Biomedical Sciences, and Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 6500 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA.
Paul B KavanaghDepartments of Medicine (Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine), Biomedical Sciences, and Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 6500 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA.
Joanna X LiangDepartments of Medicine (Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine), Biomedical Sciences, and Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 6500 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA.
Assiata KamagateDepartments of Medicine (Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine), Biomedical Sciences, and Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 6500 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA.
Valerie BuiloffDepartments of Medicine (Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine), Biomedical Sciences, and Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 6500 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA.
Andrew J EinsteinDivision of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York- Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY, USA.
Attila FeherSection of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Edward J MillerSection of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Albert J SinusasSection of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Terrence D RuddyDivision of Cardiology, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Stacey KnightIntermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, Intermountain Healthcare, Murray, UT, USA.
Viet T LeIntermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, Intermountain Healthcare, Murray, UT, USA.
Steve MasonIntermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, Intermountain Healthcare, Murray, UT, USA.
Panithaya ChareonthaitaweeDepartment of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Samuel WoppererDepartment of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Erick AlexandersonDepartment of Nuclear Cardiology, National Institute of Cardiology Ignacio Chávez, México City, México.
Isabel Carvajal-JuarezDepartment of Nuclear Cardiology, National Institute of Cardiology Ignacio Chávez, México City, México.
Thomas L RosamondDepartment of Cardiovascular Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Leandro SlipczukCardiology Division, Montefiore Health System/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
Mark I TravinDepartment of Radiology (Nuclear Medicine), Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
René R S PackardDivision of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Wanda AcampaDepartment of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Campania, Italy.
Mouaz Al-MallahHouston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, Houston Methodist Academic Institute, Houston, TX, USA.
Robert A deKempDivision of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Ronny R BuechelDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Cardiac Imaging, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Daniel S BermanDepartments of Medicine (Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine), Biomedical Sciences, and Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 6500 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA.
Damini DeyDepartments of Medicine (Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine), Biomedical Sciences, and Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 6500 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA.
Marcelo F Di CarliCardiovascular Imaging Program, Departments of Radiology and Medicine; Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology; and Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Piotr J SlomkaDepartments of Medicine (Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine), Biomedical Sciences, and Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 6500 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA. Piotr.Slomka@cshs.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6110-938X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeSpatial distribution of coronary artery calcium (CAC) may provide additional prognostic value in patients undergoing SPECT and PET myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). We aimed to automatically identify CAC in proximal segments from attenuation correction CT (CTAC) scans using artificial intelligence (AI) and to evaluate prognostic significance in two large international multicenter registries.

methodsFrom hybrid MPI/CT imaging (N = 43,099) across 15 sites, we included 4,552 most relevant patients with (1) no prior coronary artery disease; (2) AI-derived mild CAC scores (1-99); and (3) normal perfusion (stress total perfusion deficit < 5%). The independent associations between AI-identified proximal CAC and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and all-cause mortality (ACM) were evaluated using multivariable Cox regression, likelihood ratio test (LRT), and continuous net reclassification index (NRI).

resultsAmong the patients with mild CAC and normal perfusion (mean age 65 ± 12 years, 51% male), 1,730 (38%) had proximal CAC. Over 3.6 (inter-quartile interval 2.1, 5.2) years follow-up, 599 (13%) and 444 (10%) patients had MACE or ACM, respectively. Proximal CAC was associated with an increased risk of MACE (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.24, 95% CI 1.03-1.48, P = 0.02) and ACM (adjusted HR 1.25, 95% CI 1.01-1.53, P = 0.04) after the adjustment of CAC score and density, clinical risk factors, and perfusion deficit. Proximal CAC improved the risk stratification of MACE (LRT P = 0.02; NRI 12%) and ACM (LRT P = 0.04; NRI 12%).

conclusionIn patients with mild CAC and normal myocardial perfusion, AI-based proximal CAC detection identified a subgroup at increased risk of adverse outcomes. Automated identification of proximal CAC may provide incremental prognostic information beyond perfusion findings and CAC scoring and could improve risk stratification in patients who might otherwise be considered low risk.

Indexed as

All-cause mortalityArtificial intelligenceComputed tomographyMajor adverse cardiovascular eventsMyocardial perfusion imagingProximal coronary artery calcium

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