Coronary calcium: the good, the bad, and the uncertain

Coronary calcium deposits have been widely regarded to result from a passive process of encrustation or adsorption of mineral onto advanced, complex atherosclerotic lesions. Increasing interest has focused on noninvasive radiologic detection of these calcium deposits as a diagnostic and prognostic adjunct to clinical evaluation of coronary artery disease, particularly with the use of newer, high-resolution imaging techniques such as electron beam computed tomography.

We reviewed the literature on coronary calcium and its relation to pathologic atherosclerosis, angiographic stenoses,and clinical events. Clinical calcium detection studies have demonstrated an association between coronary calcium and both extent of coronary artery disease and risk of adverse events. These studies have in the past tended to reinforce the perception that calcific deposits result from a passive mineralization process, signify advanced coronary artery disease, and foreshadow future coronary events.

Recent pathologic, genetic, clinical, and biochemical evidence reviewed in this article suggests that coronary calcium deposits are a manifestation of a complex, organized, and regulated process similar in many respects to new bone formation and may not be a reliable indicator of either the extent of coronary disease or the risk of a future event. These studies also suggest that atherosclerosis and calcific deposits may be distinct pathologic entities that frequently occur together and are related to each other in ways that are poorly understood.