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I have a very high calcium score. What next?
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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these are all very interesting cases and I appreciate the sharing. I am at 1187 calcium score and taking 20 mg atorvastatin and a baby aspiring every other day. No symptoms so Dr. has said continue to exercise, which I always have, and watch diet. My genes are an issue with uncles and cousins dying of heart attacks at a young age. I am 69 and no symptoms so will continue to monitor and live life.
For all those with high calcium score and clear catheterizations, what are the doctors telling you as the reason for this? Are you still at high risk? What is the monitoring plan as you go forward?
Arteries can expand to compensate for calcification, especially in healthy folks with flexible arteries, it's called compensatory enlargement but I think in severe cases the artery can only expand so much. Also a CAC score doesn't measure blockage only the amount of calcium. High CAC can occur with minimal blockage, and the opposite is true with a fairly low CAC score and high blockage.
@robmtk from what I've read, arterial calcification can actually be reversed to some degree with LDL below 70, with even more reversal below 60.
@christianzane
I've never heard of a way to reverse the calcification. Do you remember where you read this?
thanks
Rob
@robmtk
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15364120/
That wasn't LDL, but it terms of plaque (not calcification) it's about shrink and stabilize:
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/can-statins-actually-reverse-plaque-buildup
https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/features/can-you-reverse-coronary-artery-disease
@christianzane this is what is so confusing to me and how useful cac scores are for prognostication. If you have this compensatory enlargement, are you safer from MACE events? I had a very high score, but mild atherosclerosis, but I also needed one stent. I understand I have coronary artery disease, but maybe not as bad as my calcium score would imply.
@christianzane
thanks
i'll give it a read.
I've been on warfarin for past 20 years due to mechanical valve and i've read some articles that warfain's blockage of K-2 may contribute to the calcium build up but my dr. doesn't think so.
@gchang817
Calcium scores don't tell you anything about blockage, just calcium levels. Just because you have a high CAC score doesn't mean you have blockages. The opposite is true too. My doctor always reminds me he has patients in their 90s with 4000 CAC scores with no blockages and live perfectly normal lives, so every situation is different. If you want peace of mind go and get more tests to determine if there are any blockages. I don't bother as I feel fine and changed my diet and lifestyle. The second I start feeling winded or pain I'll do those tests.
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1 Reaction@christianzane I had a 2500 calcium score. Ended up with a stent in LAD for a blockage during catheterization in August, mild atherosclerosis in the other arteries. The highest calcium score was in my RCA, but it was only mild in that artery. LDL of 37 APOB of 49 and hs-crp of .5. Im 44 years old, just nervous about my future and how to plan for it. I'm glad my arteries are not as damaged as the calcium score would imply, glad I did not need a bypass. Just wondering what it means for my future with such a high calcium score.