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Just found out my calcium score is 474. Next steps uncertain.
Went to my primary care doctor complaining of light-headedness and slight pressure on the left side of my chest. Had the Cardio CT done and it came back at 474. Visited the cardiologist who I had seen about 15 months ago and she recommended Rosuvastatin. Long story but my PC had removed me from statins after I developed side effects. 15 months ago I had similar symptoms, which is why I went to the cardiologist. Took a stress test and passed with flying colors. Turns out the stress test does not indicate degree of blockage of the arteries. My calcium scores are: left main - 145.7; left anterior descending - 229.0; left circumflex - 63.6; right coronary artery - 35.4; posterior descending artery - 0. Now, I've seen much higher scores talked about here and bless you all for how you are handling it, but since I have some pressure and occasional light-headedness, I am freaked out a little. Cardiologist cannot test for the degree of blockage, probably an insurance thing, and she told me not to go all out while exercising. That concerns me too. I am active and have always watched my diet. I just climbed Angels Landing in Utah last month at 69 years old, That is a very strenuous hike. So the plan of care is low dose aspirin, Rosuvastatin, fish oil, and return in a month to see how my cholesterol is doing LDL - 146, Total 215. If I return with symptoms, she is leaning toward a procedure. I would like to know the degree of actual blockage before proceeding, but not sure how I will be able to find that out. Feedback appreciated and good luck to all in similar or more serious situations.
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I can't take statins either because of severe muscle ache. There is a test called Cleery. Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is a heart-specific imaging test that evaluates the blood vessels that supply the heart for plaque. Computed tomography is more commonly known as a CT or CAT scan. Like traditional x-rays, it produces multiple images or pictures of the inside of the body. They take the disc from the CCTA and use AI to create a report to tell you the amount of plaque and what kind you have. The regular stress test doesn't mean much. A nuclear stress test looks at blood flow. I had no symptoms and didn't know I had a 80 percent blockage in LAD and 70 on right coronary artery. Cleery will be the gold standard. Was $1500 out of pocket. Also went on Repatha (PSK9 Injections) I'd highly recommend them.
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1 ReactionHere's a video on the cleerly test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvcJar-G5MA
another video of cleerly - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85a2pd1cV0A&t=5s
I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep advocating for yourself. You know your body better than anyone - if you’re not feeling well, push for more tests. If your current doc doesn’t respond, seek a second opinion.
My lightheadedness turned out to be a 90% blocked RCA. CAC in the 500’s. Three stents later, I’m glad that I was relentless with my physicians. I was also lucky that they were experienced enough to see where my test results were pointing.
This sounds interesting, but I am still having a hard time understanding what this adds to a standard CT angiogram. I get that they use AI to analyze the images but what does that do other than speed up the reading process? The images are the images and AI can't add information that isn't there natively. Now if they are extrapolating from the image to sort of fill in the blanks that would seem problematic to me.
The Cleerly analysis identifies low-density, uncalcified plaque, uncalcifed plaque and calcified plaque, specifying location. It does this on an expanding volume of scans. It’s learned how to read, and continues to improve its readings based on increasing amounts of data. It can show this info in a 3D model. It also adds accuracy. The caveat here is that I am a non-professional. One needs to talk to Cleerly Health.
I feel your apprehension. I’m 82 years old and always had normal serum cholesterol. Coronary thrombosis took my father and his mother in their 60s. My heart calcium level is over 700 with Dyspnea on moderate exertion with occasional light headedness. My cardiologist ordered increased statin and scheduled a stress test. I have minimized my cholesterol intake and another serum cholesterol test ordered for January. I’ll let you know where it goes from here and good luck to you.