A method for predicting the cardiac mortality risk or risk of a patient suffering a cardiovascular event, said method comprising: (a) using data gathered from a computer tomography scan along a length of a blood vessel to determine: (i) calcium index (Calcium-i), wherein Calcium-i is the total volume of all voxels corresponding to calcium within the vessel wall of the vascular segment divided by the total volume of the respective vascular segment; and/or (ii) fibrous plaque index (FPi), wherein FPi is the total volume of all voxels corresponding to fibrous plaque within the vessel wall of the vascular segment divided by the total volume of the respective vascular segment; and at least one of (iii) fat attenuation index of the perivascular adipose tissue (FAI PVAT), wherein FAI PVAT is the average attenuation of all voxels corresponding to perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT), wherein PVAT is defined as adipose tissue lying within a predetermined radial distance from the outer wall of the vessel; and/or (iv) perivascular water index (PVWi), wherein PVWi is the total volume of all voxels corresponding to water within the perivascular space in a pre-determined distance from the outer wall of the vessel divided by the total perivascular volume defined as the total volume of voxels within a pre-determined radial distance away from the outer wall of the vessel; wherein the pre-determined distance is: a distance equal to the diameter or radius of the vessel; a distance that is representative of any subdivision or multiple of the radius or diameter of the vessel; or a standard distance of 5mm; and (b) comparing each of the values determined in (a) to a pre-determined cut-off value or using the absolute value of each variable in order to generate an output value that indicates the patient's risk of suffering a cardiovascular event; wherein the method is not a method for performing a mental act. (a) using data gathered from a computer tomography scan along a length of a blood vessel to determine: (i) calcium index (Calcium-i), wherein Calcium-i is the total volume of all voxels corresponding to calcium within the vessel wall of the vascular segment divided by the total volume of the respective vascular segment; and/or (ii) fibrous plaque index (FPi), wherein FPi is the total volume of all voxels corresponding to fibrous plaque within the vessel wall of the vascular segment divided by the total volume of the respective vascular segment; and at least one of (iii) fat attenuation index of the perivascular adipose tissue (FAI PVAT), wherein FAI PVAT is the average attenuation of all voxels corresponding to perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT), wherein PVAT is defined as adipose tissue lying within a predetermined radial distance from the outer wall of the vessel; and/or (iv) perivascular water index (PVWi), wherein PVWi is the total volume of all voxels corresponding to water within the perivascular space in a pre-determined distance from the outer wall of the vessel divided by the total perivascular volume defined as the total volume of voxels within a pre-determined radial distance away from the outer wall of the vessel; wherein the pre-determined distance is: a distance equal to the diameter or radius of the vessel; a distance that is representative of any subdivision or multiple of the radius or diameter of the vessel; or a standard distance of 5mm; and (i) calcium index (Calcium-i), wherein Calcium-i is the total volume of all voxels corresponding to calcium within the vessel wall of the vascular segment divided by the total volume of the respective vascular segment; and/or (ii) fibrous plaque index (FPi), wherein FPi is the total volume of all voxels corresponding to fibrous plaque within the vessel wall of the vascular segment divided by the total volume of the respective vascular segment; and at least one of (iii) fat attenuation index of the perivascular adipose tissue (FAI PVAT), wherein FAI PVAT is the average attenuation of all voxels corresponding to perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT), wherein PVAT is defined as adipose tissue lying within a predetermined radial distance from the outer wall of the vessel; and/or (iv) perivascular water index (PVWi), wherein PVWi is the total volume of all voxels corresponding to water within the perivascular space in a pre-determined distance from the outer wall of the vessel divided by the total perivascular volume defined as the total volume of voxels within a pre-determined radial distance away from the outer wall of the vessel; a distance equal to the diameter or radius of the vessel; a distance that is representative of any subdivision or multiple of the radius or diameter of the vessel; or a standard distance of 5mm; and (b) comparing each of the values determined in (a) to a pre-determined cut-off value or using the absolute value of each variable in order to generate an output value that indicates the patient's risk of suffering a cardiovascular event;