More than a million Americans have a heart attack each year, and nearly half of them are fatal. Over half the people who die from a heart attack have no symptoms.
Coronary Artery Disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States. Every 36 seconds one person dies from cardiovascular disease, and every 40 seconds someone suffers from a heart attack.
Fortunately, a Calcium Scoring test is a non-invasive test that uses a CT scan to measure the amount of calcified plaque in your coronary arteries. In roughly ten minutes, his test can help determine your risk for a heart attack and predict your risk for future heart attacks.
What is a Calcium Score?
This non-invasive test uses a CT scan to measure the amount of calcified plaque in your coronary arteries. The test measures your “calcium score,” which helps your doctor calculate your risk of developing coronary artery disease (CAD)-related events such as a heart attack or a stroke.
What does it show that other tests do not?
The calcium score test shows the amount of coronary artery calcium in the coronary artery plaque, which cannot be directly imaged non-invasively. In addition, the vessels of the heart are five times more likely than those of other organs to make plaque. So, if you want to get a good idea of whether or not you are a “plaque builder,” then a CT scan of the heart might predict other types of non-coronary diseases too.
