Glossary of Medical Terms
AACE
American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists
ACC
American College of Cardiology
ACE
Americal College of Endocrinology
Absolute Risk Reduction
The actual difference in risk between the treated and control group.
ADA
American Diabetes Association
Agatston Score
Named after Dr. Arthur Agatston, it represents the total area and density of calcium.
AHA
American Heart Association
Apo B
Apolipoprotein B
Arthur Agatston, Dr.
Perhaps better known for the "South Beach Diet" also a pioneer in cardiac CT imaging and coronary artery calcium scores.
ASPC
American Society of Preventve Cardiology
A
Biomarker
A chararcteristic that is objectively measured and evaluated as an indicator of normal biologic processes, pathogenic processes, or the response to a therapeutic intervention.
B
CAC
Coronary artery calcium
CAC > 300
High risk, equivalent to heart attack survivors.
CMS
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
CPG
Clinical Practice Guideline
CTT
Cholesterol Treatment Trialists
C
Discordance
When 2 biomarkers measuring the same disease, disagree.
D
EAS
European Atherosclerosis Society
EBT
Electron Beam Tomography
EHR
Electronic Health Record
ESC
European Society of Cardiology
E
FH
Familal Hypercholesterolemia
F
Gated Imaging
The timing of the image acquisition (picture taking) between heart beats to prevent a “blurry” image of a fast moving or beating heart.
G
HCM
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
High-Intensity LDL-Lowering Therapy
> 50% LDL lowering from baseline.
High-Intensity Statin
Only 2 statins are capable of 50% LDL lowering in most persions: atorvastatin 40mg or 80 mg daily; rosuvastatin 20 mg or 40 mg daily.
High Percentile Rank
CAC score > 75th percentile compared by age, gender, race.
High Risk
Markedly elevated single risk factors.
Hounsfield Unit
Relative quatification of density of tissue on a CT scan
H
Infraction
Dead tissue
“It's the particles, stupid.”
An adaptation of a somewhat famous quote sometimes heard among lipidologists.
IVUS
Intravascular ultrasound
I
J
K
LAD
Left Anterior Descending
Lesion
A particular region injury (like a wound) of an organ
Lifetime Risk
Long term trajectory, sometimes referred to as 30 year risk
L
MDCT
Multidetector Computed Tomography
Myocardial
Heart muscle
Myocardium
Heart muscle
M
NIH
National Institutes of Health
NHANES
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
NHLBI
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute
NLA
National Lipid Association
NRI
Net Reclassification Index
N
O
Power of Zero
A score of 0 imparts a very low risk, with a 10 year event rate of 1.1-1.7%
P
Q
RCT
Randomized Controlled Trial
ROC
Receiver Operator Curve
R
SCCT
Society of Cardiovascular Computed Technology
SCD
Sudden Cardiac Death
S
T
USPSTF
United States Preventive Services Task Force
U
Voxel
A 3-dimensional volume of space (volumetric pixel, measured in mm3), like a pixel on your television screen
V
W
Widowmaker
The commonly referred to artery called the Left Anterior Descening which supplies a large amount of heart muscle (myocardium) and frequently associated with sudden cardiac death in the event of a sudden blockage.
Also the name of a documentary film that revealing the greed, ego, and a conspiracy of silence around cardiac screening.
X
Y
Z
10 Year Risk
Near term risk that is used in most ASCVD risk calculators