New Way to “SCORE” Risk: Updates on the ESC Scoring System and Incorporation into ESC Cardiovascular Prevention Guidelines

Abstract

Purpose of Review: Prior European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines endorsed the SCORE 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk calculator to inform the total risk approach to CVD prevention, including the use of preventive interventions like lipid lowering therapies. However, SCORE was released in 2003, did not allow for estimation of fatal and non-fatal CVD events, and was limited to adults aged 40 to 70 years. The ESC’s Cardiovascular Risk Collaboration (CRC) was tasked with updating SCORE (SCORE2) and with extending the upper age range of adults eligible for risk estimation (SCORE2-OP). This review summarises these two deliverables. Recent Findings: Published in 2021, these updated risk scores allow for estimation of 10 year total (fatal + non-fatal) risks of a first atherosclerotic cardiovascular event in adults (SCORE2) and older persons (SCORE2-OP), calibrated for use in four European risk regions. The models account for competing risk of non-CVD death. These were extensively validated with excellent calibration and C-statistics ranging from 0.67 to 0.81. Summary: SCORE2 and SCORE2-OP have informed the 2021 ESC Guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention in clinical practice. In addition to endorsing these two updated risk calculators, these guidelines have, for the first time, recommended the use of age-related risk categories. This change was motivated to prevent overreliance on age when making CVD prevention decisions.