Assessment of subclinical atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk

Conventional cardiac risk factors do not fully explain the incidence of cor onary artery disease and coronary events. Risk stratification and therapy b ased solely on these conventional risk factors may exclude a population who would otherwise benefit from lifestyle and risk factor modification. Recen t efforts to improve our ability to recognize individuals and populations a t increased risk of coronary events have focused on the noninvasive imaging of atherosclerosis, both in coronary and extracoronary arterial beds, or t he identification of "non-traditional" serum markers. We review the complim entary role of these newer methods of risk stratification in the context of conventional risk factor evaluation.