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Chronic Chest Pain Clinic

Chronic Chest Pain Clinic.jpg

Listening to Coronary Blood Flow

Explaining CADScore by Acarix - the latest tool in heart attack prevention.

  • AI-based technology

  • Non-invasive

  • Clinically validated

  • Endorsed by the American College of Cardiology

  • Requires no special prep

  • Takes 10 minutes to complete the test and get an answer

  • Covered by health insurance

  • A CADScore of 20 or less means that atypical chest pain is not due to obstructive CAD with a high degree of certainty. This ability to get quick and reliable answer helps reduce unnecessary ER visit, invasive testing, and anxiety while reducing healthcare costs. 

  • ​ A CADScore of over 20 means that subsonic acoustic waves were detected that may indicate turbulent flow within a coronary artery and further testing may be required. Watch these short videos to learn more: click here.

Chronic Chest Pain Clinic

​The CDC estimates that over 3 million Americans will experience a first heart attack in the next 5 years. The good news is most of them can be prevented by earlier coronary plaque detection followed by the recommended "disease-stopping" optimal medical therapy. 

We are committed to improving the cardiovascular health of our greater Princeton community. Part of that commitment is meeting an unmet need by creating the first Chronic Chest Pain Clinic in New Jersey. We employ AI-based technology to provide an answer by the end of the patient's first visit.

CADScore test is part of our initial evaluation of patients with chronic stable chest pain of undetermined cause. Some of these patients were already seen in the ER or Urgent Care, acute heart attack was ruled out and referred to us for further outpatient evaluation. Other patients are referred by their primary care providers. The rest are self-referred.

Every adult patient encounter is an opportunity for heart attack prevention beyond the short term. In patients 45 years and older with at least one risk factor (hypertension, smoking, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, family history, elevated hs-CRP, unhealthy lifestyle, etc.), we will take the initiative to determine the patient's more long-term 3-5 year risk by recommending a coronary calcium scoring test. Depending upon the result, we will develop a personalized medical treatment plan to eliminate long-term heart attack risk to the maximum degree possible.


Overcoming the limitations the short-term prediction of CADScore and improving long-term patient outcomes while reducing healthcare costs:

CADScore detects acoustic vibrations from turbulent coronary blood flow  during diastole BUT it does not answer these questions:
(1) Are coronary plaques present or not? A CADScore of 1 to 20 does not mean that coronary plaques that can rupture in the future are not present.

Most Heart Attacks Due to Mild to Moderate Obstruction.png

The above slide highlights that 68% of acute heart attacks are due to sudden rupture of plaques causing only mild to moderate stenosis, not severe or critical stenosis.

Kelly has chronic stable chest pains. Her CADScore was 13 which quickly relieved her anxiety because the likelihood that her chest pain is cardiac is low in the short term. That is correct. But what about her 3 to 5-year-risk and beyond?

If Kelly had a coronary calcium score, her score could be as shown below and plaque-stabilizing, plaque-regressing medical therapy will reduce her risk from high to low after a few years.

CACS 124 plus Lt main.jpg

(2) A CADScore of 21 to 99 does not answer the question of how much plaques are present, or the degree of obstruction - 30%, 50% or 70% or if ischemia is present or not?

Capital Cardiology Associates - Dr. deGoma, Dr. Kalra and Dr. Mustafa, is an established cardiology group and cumulatively, among them, have over 100 years of experience in the clinical evaluation of chest pains.
Total Cardiac Care at its Best!

Clinical Cardiology

When a 40 or 50 year old patient comes in for heart attack prevention, the initial evaluation involves clinical cardiology expertise. 

Preventive Cardiology

After the initial evaluation, preventive cardiology expertise determines how most accurately determine the risk for cardiovascular events  within the next 5 to 10 years.

Advanced Lipid Clinic

Once the severity of risk is known, medical therapy is optimized to the level of risk. Advanced lipid therapy is the foundation of prevention in high risk patients.

Stop Your Heart Attack Before It Happens

Taking care of your cardiac health

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Number 1 Preventive Cardiology Service in NJ
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