I have a very high calcium score. What next?

Thanks for responding,
Stress test in two weeks
Lipid A came back well in range. Waiting for more BW results
65 y.o.
No Statins. Cholesterol has always been low.
None of the other tests yet.
Are there specialists in this area?
Thank you

I just found out this past week that my CAC is 2534. It was quite a shock given I've always been an active person, non-smoker/non-drinker, ate VERY little red meat the past 10 years, walk or hike quite a bit still, and exercise at least 3x / week (I'm a 60 year old male). No family history except my dad dying at 84 from a heart attack (but he had a HORRIBLE diet and was on BP and cholesterol meds).

I'm seeing a cardiologist at Duke in two weeks thankfully to give me more answers to this score. My biggest number was 1639 on my right coronary artery. I wish you the best. I'll post here in a few weeks to provide an update on what the cardiologist says. I'm hoping he suggests more tests before doing anything invasive. Thankfully I'm completely asymptomatic at this time.

Calcium Score over 1200, coronary angio shows diffuse non occlusive calcification of coronary arteries ( cardiologist doing cath said mine were better than his). If its not CAD what causes cardiomegaly with LBBB in a 76 yr old male, BP 120/70, Hbg A1c 5.3, Cholesterol 100, HDL 31, LDL 32, TG 114, echo shows cardiac output >60m with left atrial enlargement. My concern is emerging cardiomyopathy somehow being caused by the LBBB dyssynchrony somehow caused by calcification more aggressive than simple aging in a man who has been on statins with CoQ10 coverage for years. I am not changing anything but would appreciate an explanation JRM MD

Here is what I did for my Calcium load of 1200+
I lost 50lbs
I had a stress test with adenosine
followed by an echo-cardiogram which led to a surprisingly easy negative coronary angiogram
no stents no bypass
The second cardiologist is PROBABLY correct but not a bad idea to have it checked by the more conventional screening tests. JRM MD

christianzane,

Did the author of the article update their CAC as promised?

It says he has since retired but lists his e-mail after the article as stamford@hanover.edu, perhaps you could inquire about his third CAC Score results.

Hmmm ... odd that he would not publish it in some way.

Sent him a note.

And, I'm guessing it did not go down - even though he went to great lengths to get it to do so.

Still looking for glimmer.

OTOH - the more I read, the more I keep seeing that in many cases a cath is done, with findings that indicate the calcium is in the walls of the arteries, vs inside ... but, lots of variability.

It would not go down, I think that's very difficult. What we're looking for is retardation of the progression, so instead of 20% annual growth something more like 10 or 7%. Statins inherently increase calcification which in essence is good as it's stabilization of the plaque, it's that soft gooey stuff that causes a lot of people problems. As I've mentioned before, my doctor has patients in their mid-90s with CAC scores in the 1000s so living with it is do-able with lifestyle changes and awareness/monitoring of the condition.

Have you been taking statins? That might be the cause as statins are designed to harden plaque. Loose plaque is worse. In any case, more tests are in order to be sure your blood flow is good. If it is, don’t worry. It’s not a death sentence. I’m not a doctor but I’d say keep doing what you’re doing if you get a good nuclear stress test etc to check blood flow. That’s the key.

Your doc should check blood flow with nuclear stress test and sonogram etc. if the blood flow is good, don’t worry. That’s my story. And I’m 70 with 642 score after having taken statins for years.