Response by Madder et al to Letter Regarding Article, “Multimodality Intracoronary Imaging With Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and Intravascular Ultrasound in Asymptomatic Individuals With High Calcium Scores”

We agree with Drs Shaikh and Budoff on the necessity of additional studies to investigate whether detection of lipid-rich plaque (LRP) by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can add incremental value to the coronary artery calcium score (CACS) in the prediction of future cardiovascular events. In our recent study, we demonstrated that NIRS adds information on the presence or absence of LRP among individuals with a high CACS.1 A logical next step is to determine if …