An international group of prominent cardiologists has called for non-invasive screening for heart disease of all US asymptomatic men aged 45-75 and women aged 55-75.

The Screening For Heart Attack Prevention And Education (SHAPE) task force says that screening should be carried out to measure coronary artery calcium, with computed tomography scan, and carotid intima media thickness and plaque, with carotid ultrasonography.

The group's recommendations were published as a supplement to the American Journal of Cardiology in July, with Pfizer as the major sponsor.

The proposal hinges on the basic principle that traditional risk factor screening—the Framingham …