In 380 patients, coronary calcifications were quantified by electron beam tomography and compared with the predicted 10-year cardiovascular event risk determined by the Framingham equation, Adult Treatment Panel III tables, and the PROCAM algorithm. The correlation between the amount of calcium and the predicted cardiac event risk was low (correlation coefficient range 0.19 to 0.28). The assessment of coronary calcium may thus potentially yield information that is additive to the analysis of traditional risk factors.