Some background
Medical professionals often use screening tools to determine the whether a patient is likely to have, or develop different diseases. The SYNTAX score (SxScore) is one of these screening tools. The SxScore is used to assess a patient’s risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). CAD is a leading cause of stroke. However, the SxScore only takes angiographic evidence into account (an X-ray reading of the blood vessels in the heart). It does not factor in any other clinical readings. This is why the SxScore II has been developed.
The SxScore II is a screening tool that includes other clinical variables. It is especially useful in the detection of carotid disease. The carotid artery is the artery that supplies the blood flow to the brain. When this becomes blocked it can cause a stroke.
Methods & findings
The current study aimed to determine whether the SxScore II was better able to predict the risk of stroke in CAD patients.
The study lasted 1 year and 244 patients were enrolled. All patients had CAD but no history of carotid artery disease. They used ultrasound to detect whether there was any large blockages in the carotid artery that had gone undiagnosed. Both the SxScore and the SxScore II were measured for each patient.
Out of the 244 patients 77% had a lesion (damage to the blood vessel wall) that had gone undiagnosed. 18% of patients had a severely blocked carotid artery.
The SxScore did not predict the presence of a blocked carotid artery in any of the patients. In comparison, the SxScore II was associated with the presence of a blocked artery.
The bottom line
This study concluded that many patients with CAD aso had undiagnosed blockages in their carotid arteries. This study also concluded that the SxScore II was a better tool to predict the presence of carotid blockage than the SxScore.
The fine print
The study was done with a relately small amount of patients and they were mostly male.
Published By :
International Journal of Cardiology
Date :
Jun 14, 2015
