What do the results of a coronary calcium scan mean?

A coronary calcium scan shows how much plaque is in your arteries; a score of 0 is ideal. Watch cardiologist Arthur Agatston, MD, explain how the lower your score is, the lower your risk of having a heart attack - despite your cholesterol levels.

Transcript

00:00

The coronary calcium scan is the one test that we want to get a zero on. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:11

The coronary calcium scan is the one test that we want to get a zero on. That means no plaque.

00:17

It means very low risk. In fact, it's really a warranty, for the next 10 years, you're not going to have a heart attack.

00:25

And you do not have to take a statin drug no matter what your cholesterol level is.

00:31

Now, if you do have plaque, the higher the score, the higher the risk. And so you have to talk with your internist,

00:39

your cardiologist, and decide which treatments. It can be diet, medication, exercise.

00:48

But the higher it is, the more aggressive an intervention is required because the higher the risk

00:54

of a future heart attack. The calcium score starts at zero. That's the score we all want to have.

01:01

But even a score between 10 and 100 increases your chance of a heart attack four to eight-fold.

01:08

And if it's over 100, it starts increasing it up to 10 to 20-fold. And when it's over 400, it's over 20-fold increase

01:19

in your chance of having a heart attack. And the score can go right up into the thousands. If your score is over 1,000, which is quite unusual,

01:28

you actually have one in four chance of having a heart attack in the next year.