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High Coronary Calcium Score: How do others feel emotionally?
Heart & Blood Health | Last Active: Feb 13 9:01am | Replies (640)Comment receiving replies
The calcium in the blood is not what to be concerned about The CT that identifies the calcified plaque is indicative of coronary artery disease, depending on the score. It is important to note that only about 20% of plaque is calcified, so you actually have 5 times the amount of plaque.
Unfortunately it is not possible to differentiate between stable and unstable plaque at this time. I haven't seen any study that says calcified plaque is more stable. There are two concerns with CAD. First is the stenosis which is the actual blocking of the arteries. At least with this there is a good chance of having warning signs with this and once you are symptomatic you have treatment options. However, if you have a plaque rupture you can end up with a sudden major cardio event or stroke.
Replies to "The calcium in the blood is not what to be concerned about The CT that identifies..."
@keithl56 23 yrs ago I had a triple by pass Plaque in arteries 85%,90,95% Dr said it was calcified calcium
Hi @tim1028,
I can completely understand your worry – any news concerning the heart can be so scary! I'd like to offer some information, provided by Cardiology at Mayo Clinic:
Calcification in the coronaries indicates coronary artery disease – if you do have calcium, you have plaque. Having a stress test is a good start, not to discern whether the plaque is normal or not, but to inform whether a person is at greater risk to have a heart attack.
To further explain...
Previous studies have shown that calcified, or stable plaque, is less prone to rupture than non-calcified, or soft plaque.
Calcium scoring measures how much calcified plaque a person has, but it doesn't measure non-calcified or soft plaque. A CT is accurate in detecting high calcification volumes, but may not tell whether that plaque is vulnerable or not.
Until then, the best way to predict whether calcification in the coronaries will result in a heart attack is to do stress testing. With plaque, even if the stress test is normal, aggressive risk factor modification is recommended – stop smoking, engage in an exercise regimen, and aggressive management of diabetes and hypertension, and lowering of total cholesterol, especially bad cholesterol (LDL) is recommended. If the CT scan shows no coronary calcium on CT scan, your cardiologist will recommend that you be periodically reassessed.
To summarize, if you have negative coronary calcium, the chances of you developing a heart attack are small. If you have a positive scan – then yes – we don’t know who will develop a heart attack amongst these patients, but stress testing will help differentiate. There are new diagnostic tests that have been developed to assess plaque vulnerability (the plaque that is likely to rupture and result in a heart attack), and clinical trials to show that a coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) can capture the full anatomy of the coronary arteries in a single heartbeat, and can provide a picture of the total amount of plaque throughout the arteries of the heart. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/316408.php
@tim1028, I encourage you to watch these videos where Mayo Clinic cardiologists offer detailed information; I sincerely hope this will help alleviate some of your concerns:
– Coronary Calcium Score: Basics and Beyond https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP7cyrjYwic
– The Pathogenesis of Plaque Rupture (Vulnerable Plaque) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtinJfbE0Q8
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@keithl56 I wonder whether @frank1847 would agree that there are no studies showing calcified plaque is more stable than noncalcified. He quotes Dr. Ford Brewer on the subject and refers to other information that sounds like study results.