EP 162: Cardiac CT in 2026: From Risk Scores to Plaque Precision

About this episode

In this week’s episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra is joined by Dr Chris Maroules, National Director for Cardiac Imaging at SimonMed and co-director of Innovation Health. Together, they explore why coronary CTA, now a Class 1 recommendation in the 2021 ACC/AHA chest pain guidelines, has become the standard first-line non-invasive test, and why proficiency in cardiac CT is essential for cardiology trainees in 2026. The conversation shifts from traditional risk scores to direct disease assessment, highlighting the power of coronary CTA to identify and quantify plaque burden. Dr Maroules discusses high-risk plaque features, the limitations of calcium scoring, and the evolving role of FFRCT, before outlining a future of AI-enabled screening and precision prevention. He concludes with practical advice for fellows, encouraging Level 2 certification to stay ahead in an increasingly imaging-driven field. Questions and comments can be sent to "podcast@radcliffe-group.com" and may be answered by Ankur in the next episode. Host: @AnkurKalraMD and produced by: @RadcliffeCardio Parallax is Ranked in the Top 100 Health Science Podcasts (#48) by Million Podcasts.