Calcium artery scoring: is this $49 scan at New Lenox hospital right for you?

People at medium risk for a heart attack or stroke might want to consider a CT heart scan to check for calcification in their coronary arteries.

This screening CT heart scan, also called calcium artery scoring, looks for subclinical atherosclerosis in people at medium risk for a heart attack and who don’t have symptoms of heart disease but may require “aggressive risk factors modification” to reduce the risk for cardiovascular events, such as heart attack or stroke, according to Dr. Francisco Yun said, a board-certified interventional cardiologist at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox.

The heart scan looks for calcium deposits in their coronary arteries. This may indicate more plaque in the coronary arteries, increasing the risk of heart attack or stroke.

“This is just a screening tool,” Yun said. “It does not identify blockages.”

According to Silver Cross, this test is “ideal for men over age 45 and women over age 55 who smoke, have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or a family history of premature coronary artery disease.”

The calcium artery scoring only identifies people who may need further testing or lifestyle modifications, Yun said. This screening test is not for people with existing heart blockages or who have symptoms of possible blockages, Yun said.

Symptoms of heart blockages that would disqualify patients from a screening heart scan include chest discomfort and shortage of breath with exertion, Yun said. These people should see a cardiologist, he said.

Moreover, people who previously had a heart attack, heart bypass procedure or stents are also disqualified, since they are already high risk patients, Yun said.

But a high calcium score in patients with no symptoms can lead to preventative treatment before they have a heart attack or stroke.

“They’re caught early on because their scores are super high,” Yun said.

But if the calcium artery score may also lower the risk for patients considered at medium risk for cardiovascular events.

“If they have zero calcifications, maybe I don’t need statins to treat these patients,” Yun said.

Statins are a type of prescription medicine that helps decrease cholesterol levels.

This high-speed CT scan of the chest is quick, painless, inexpensive (Silver Cross charges $49 for the test) and uses low-dose radiation and no contrast, Yun said.

“It helps identify patients who are at risk and really want to get an early start and try to prevent the progression of heart disease,” Yun said. “And so this is a good test to identify that.”

For more information, visit silvercross.org/care-treatment/heart-care/heart-scan.