How is the coronary calcium scan helping to treat patients?

The coronary artery calcium test is a tool doctors use to help inform treatment for a patient. Merle Myerson, MD, Director of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention with Bassett Medical Center explains the ways in which the exam is helpful.

Transcript

00:00

My personal feeling is that if somebody doesn't need a medication, you know, why go on it? You know, there's no free ride with medications,

00:08

even though we know the statins and other drugs are generally safe. So for my patients, I really want all the information

00:14

I can get before I make a decision. And many patients really appreciate that as well. So tests like the coronary artery calcium scanning

00:23

can give us another tool to say, wow, you know, I think you have the beginnings of a buildup of plaque

00:31

in your arteries. I think it would be very helpful to treat your cholesterol. But on the other hand, there's been

00:37

no long term definitive studies looking at very hard endpoints. When we say hard endpoints we mean

00:44

heart attacks, coronary artery death, things like that that have, more or less, proved that coronary artery calcium could change that.

00:54

So it is a marker. It's not the equivalent of coronary artery disease, but once again, it can be helpful in certain patients,