Cardiovascular events with absent or minimal coronary calcification: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

BACKGROUND: Elevated coronary artery calcium (CAC) is a marker for increase risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Although most CHD events occur among individuals with advanced CAC, CHD can also occur in individuals with little or no calcified plaque. In this study, we sought to evaluate the characteristics associated with incident CHD events in the setting of minimal (score