Coronary Artery Calcium Screening
Coronary arteries supply oxygen-rich blood to your heart. If plaque made up of fat, calcium and other substances builds up, it can either narrow or close off the arteries and starve your heart of needed oxygen.
Plaque may develop without any signs or symptoms. However, as more builds up, you may experience chest pain, arm tingling or back pain. If a piece breaks off and blocks an artery, you may have a heart attack.
Stop Heart Disease Before It Stops You
Coronary calcium scoring, also known as a heart scan or cardiac CT calcium score, is a non-invasive computed tomography (CT) scan of your heart. A radiologist will use the scan to measure the amount of calcified plaque in your arteries and calculate your risk of developing coronary artery disease (CAD).
Your physician may recommend this screening test if you are a man over age 40 or a woman over age 50 and have one or more of the following risk factors:
- Have a family history of heart disease or diabetes
- Are a smoker
- Are obese
- Have high cholesterol
- Have a sedentary lifestyle
If you meet the guidelines above, ask your doctor about if CT Calcium Scoring is right for you. A physician referral is required. To schedule an appointment call 843-522-5015.
You Do Not Need to Have Any Signs or Symptoms of Illness
Like other screening tests, calcium scoring provides information about whether a healthy person may have an illness or an increased chance of developing a potentially serious illness. It allows your doctor to provide early advice and, if necessary, treatment before you develop symptoms.
Based on your score, your doctor may recommend you change your diet, exercise, control blood pressure and diabetes, stop smoking and reduce cholesterol in your blood.
A Fast, Noninvasive Look at Your Heart
When you arrive for your heart scan, electrode patches will be placed on the front of your chest so an electrocardiogram (ECG) machine can measure the activity of your heart and show if it is working normally. There will be no injections or drinks given.
You will then be taken to the CT scanner and asked to lie on a scanning table. The table will move through the scanner's round opening during the test. You will be asked to hold your breath, the table will move and pictures of the heart will be taken. The radiographer will check that the scan is a success, and then you can leave. A specially trained physician, called a radiologist, will review the scans and measure the amount of calcium that is present.
The radiologist's report with your score will be sent to the doctor who referred you, so you can discuss the score and how it can be used to help you.
If you meet the guidelines above, ask your doctor about if CT calcium scoring is right for you. A physician referral is required. To schedule an appointment call 843-522-5015.
A coronary artery calcium score is a measurement of the amount of calcium and plaque buildup on the walls of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle. It is measured by taking a special computed tomography (CT) scan of the heart. The results of the scan make it possible to estimate the risk of a heart attack or other heart disease in the next three to five years. The more calcified plaque there is, the higher your risk.
A high calcium score does not mean that you will have a heart attack, only that there is a greater likelihood of having one than someone with a low score. Even a person with a score of zero could have a heart attack.
This screening is appropriate for men over age 40 and women over age 50 with one or more of the following risk factors:
- Family history of heart disease or diabetes
- Smoking
- Excess weight
- High cholesterol
- Sedentary lifestyle
If you have already been diagnosed with coronary artery disease, this test is not necessary because it will not provide additional information for your physicians to adjust your course of treatment.
This CT heart scan is performed to check for any buildup of calcified plaque in the coronary arteries. Plaque and hardening of the artery walls causes heart disease and can lead to a heart attack. Coronary calcium scoring is a better predictor of coronary events (heart attack and other heart diseases) than cholesterol screening or other risk factors.
Your score is used to predict your three-to-five-year risk for heart attack or heart disease. The lower your calcium score, the less likely you are to have heart disease or a heart attack compared with other men or women your age. Based on your score your doctor may recommend that you make dietary and lifestyle changes or prescribe medication. Your primary care provider may also refer you to a cardiologist for further evaluation.
Your coronary calcium score shows the likelihood of heart disease or heart attack. The lower your score, the less likely you are to experience heart disease or a heart attack.
If your score is zero, no plaque is present. You have less than a five-percent chance of having heart disease. Your risk of a heart attack is very low.
If you have a score above zero, this indicates that there may be some degree of plaque in the arteries of your heart. Based on your score, your physician will make recommendations to help reduce your risk of having a heart attack or cardiovascular disease in the future.
A physician referral is required for this screening. After you’ve spoken with your primary care physician or cardiologist and the test has been ordered, simply call 843-522-5015 to set your appointment at one of our locations in Beaufort or Bluffton.
- Beaufort Medical Plaza – 989 Ribaut Road, Suite 110, Beaufort
- Okatie Medical Plaza – 122 Okatie Center Boulevard North, Suite 140, Okatie
- Beaufort Memorial Hospital – 955 Ribaut Road, Beaufort
- Lowcountry Medical Group – 300 Midtown Drive, Beaufort
We recommend purchasing a bundled pricing voucher through MDsave (scroll down to “Cardiac CT Calcium Scoring” and select the location at which you would like to receive your scan.) The discounted bundled price includes both the imaging facility fee and the radiologist/physician fee for reading the results/providing the score.
On the day of your heart CT scan, you will be advised not to smoke or drink coffee, tea, cola drinks, herbal teas or other caffeine-containing drinks. You should also not use any powder or lotion on your chest. No other preparation is needed.
Your scan will be read by a radiologist on the same day it is performed. The results will be sent to the physician who ordered the test. Your physician may wish to discuss the findings with you in person during an office visit or via phone. Once your physician has released the results, they will be available through our patient portal. (If you do not have a hospital patient portal account, you will need to request a PIN to register.)
Your calcium score can provide an early indication of the potential for coronary disease or heart attack. Once plaque has developed in your arteries, it typically cannot be reversed. With effective treatment, though, plaque buildup may slow down or stop. The best way to treat cholesterol plaques is to prevent them from forming or progressing. That can be done with lifestyle changes and, if needed, medication. Eating a healthy diet, getting frequent exercise and not smoking are all important steps you can take to reduce your risk of coronary disease or heart attack.
If you have already been diagnosed with coronary artery disease, you should be in the care of a heart doctor (cardiologist) and a primary care physician. Generally, those physicians will not order a calcium scan because it won't show the progression of your disease or associated risks.
