I have a very high calcium score. What next?

Posted by dpframing @dpframing, Aug 24, 2018

Just joined the site and I'm looking to share with others who have had a high calcium score. I found out today that mine is 2996 and I am scared by this. I am 61 and I am totally asymptomatic. Now I feel like a walking time bomb. I am thinking of requesting an angiogram to see if there's any narrowing anywhere and if it can be corrected with a stent. After a second heart doctor told me that the plaque buildup might be uniform over the course of years with no big problem areas, I am encouraged. But the score still freaks me out, specifically my LAD at 1333. I don't smoke or drink but I have to lose 40 lbs.

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Hello Group. I am joining the group, hoping for some constructive advice. I just turned 50 last month. I was put on blood pressure medication just last year. My employee noticed a diagonal crease in my ear, and let me know about this thing called a "Frank sign". I looked into it, and thought I needed to advise my GP. I was sent in for a calcium scoring, and I hit a 282. 251 in my LAD. I was immediately put on Crestor 20mg, and a baby aspirin. I am as I see a lot of folks, very concerned about my future now. What really seems to confuse me, is my resting heart rate when I first wake up and check it is approximately 40-45 beats per minute. It has been for going on over 20 years due to my fitness regiment I held for most of my adult life. If I understand calcium scoring, I have a substantial amount in my LAD artery. This I would think would force my heart to pump harder, and generate more heart beats per minute in doing so, right? I am going in for a stress test next week. I understand blockage of over 70%, and the need for further evasive treatment options if needed will be determined after this event.

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Profile picture for jan59 @jan59

Thank you so much! Sadly, it seems community screenings may be well intended but when grossly abnormal results get into patients’ hands before MDs have had an opportunity to review them, the wait and worry can be too much! Been there done that!

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jan59,

I think that is a good thing ... medical professionals are busy; this, combined with too short office calls in many cases means doc and patient are not able to have an effective conversation.

The advent of the internet and the sometimes significant delays in getting an appointment with ones's doc, could mean a patient with a just received CAC score could have plenty of time to research and understand the potentials of the result. Plus, delays in test results are never good for anxiety for some.

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Thank you so much! Sadly, it seems community screenings may be well intended but when grossly abnormal results get into patients’ hands before MDs have had an opportunity to review them, the wait and worry can be too much! Been there done that!

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Profile picture for jan59 @jan59

Wow! Did I need to hear that! I am an older RN, who recently attended a luncheon and received the opportunity to have a complimentary calcium score and was utterly shocked to find I have a score of 1800! I’m asymptomatic and I’ve been on a statin for years. My recent cholesterol total was 170, LDL 98 and HDL 68. Thanks for the explanation!

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My GP has told me numerous times he has patients in his 90s with CAC scores in the 1000s with no cardiac events. Keep on the statin and keep that plaque stabilized.

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Profile picture for lgdrn81 @lgdrn81

As an old nurse that just had a calcium score test done, thank you for this explanation!

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Wow! Did I need to hear that! I am an older RN, who recently attended a luncheon and received the opportunity to have a complimentary calcium score and was utterly shocked to find I have a score of 1800! I’m asymptomatic and I’ve been on a statin for years. My recent cholesterol total was 170, LDL 98 and HDL 68. Thanks for the explanation!

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Profile picture for bluesdoc @bluesdoc

As the owner of a CAC score >2600 with normal treadmill and perfusion studies (no angio because of horrid reaction to IV contrast), and fwiw, a practicing doc for ~49 years (ie, I'm old, but still in the game), I should remind the group that 1. very high CAC scores are not understood by the cardio community 2. A few patients I know in my age cohort with high scores who have gotten an angio have not showed calcified intima plaque but rather Ca++ at the outer portions of the coronary vessels (ymmv) 3. with normal treadmill and perfusion studies we probably do NOT have a time bomb in our chest any more than age-predicted 4. Consider carotid US as carotid and coronary lesions often parallel one another. In my case with my very high CAC score, my carotids are completely clear of atheroma. Just another piece of the puzzle. The most direct way of addressing our anxieties about coronary Ca++ is to get functional studies - treadmill/perfusion testing. And, this is NOT medical advice as that is not appropriate here, but consider statins (or other LDL lowering approaches) to stabilize whatever plaque you might have, esp if lipids are high.

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As an old nurse that just had a calcium score test done, thank you for this explanation!

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Profile picture for christianzane @christianzane

Thanks for the update. So his CAC progression is:

2003: 84
2016: 176
2022: 553

Something doesn't make sense with that. He had an 8% annual increase for 13 years then a 35% annual increase for the last six years 2016-2022. So something isn't right with that.

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My math is a bit different - I get about 21% give or take - doing quick multiplier year over year for six years.

Don't have the timeline on when he started statins (or, at least I surmise he did) ... but this would account for quite a bit of it?

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Profile picture for mayoconnectuser1 @mayoconnectuser1

So, Mr Stamford say his three tests were: 84, 182, 553 (latest) ... perhaps because he started meds to reduce LDL (he noted his were now in upper 30s). I assume this means statins.

I invited him to post his story here.

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Thanks for the update. So his CAC progression is:

2003: 84
2016: 176
2022: 553

Something doesn't make sense with that. He had an 8% annual increase for 13 years then a 35% annual increase for the last six years 2016-2022. So something isn't right with that.

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So, Mr Stamford say his three tests were: 84, 182, 553 (latest) ... perhaps because he started meds to reduce LDL (he noted his were now in upper 30s). I assume this means statins.

I invited him to post his story here.

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Profile picture for mayoconnectuser1 @mayoconnectuser1

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.

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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.

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