A group of professors have analyzed CT angiographic data and found a significant increase in prevalence and volume of non-calcified plaque amongst African Americans and a lower prevalence of calcified plaque

Of the African Americans tested, 64% showed signs of non-calcified plaque, compared with 41% of Caucasians, while only 26% of African Americans showed signs of calcified plaque, compared with 45% of Caucasians. Overall signs of plaque were roughly equal (79% of African Americans, compared with 74% of Caucasians), but it was the differences in types of plaque that most interested researchers, leading them to suggest that continued use of CT angiography as opposed to coronary artery calcium scoring when dealing with African Americans. The results of coronary artery calcium scoring studies should be treated with caution in African Americans because they may not reflect the true extent of cardiovascular disease. For African American patients, coronary CT angiography may be a more appropriate screening tool for cardiovascular risk. The report concluded that more research was required to determine whether CT plaque characterization could improve cardiac risk prediction in African Americans.