What is the importance of a heart scan?
A. The heart scan looks for signs of calcified plaque in the coronary arteries that feed the heart muscle. Plaque in the walls of the coronary arteries can build up and harden (calcify) long before the lumen (channel) becomes blocked. Even the most sophisticated treadmill test will not become positive (abnormal) until 70% of a coronary artery is blocked. Waiting to develop chest pain or for a treadmill to become positive may be too late. Finding evidence of atherosclerosis early is the first critical step towards prevention of a heart attack or stroke. You should know, however, that most men over the age of 40 and women over the age of 50 will have some degree of calcification. So, do not be alarmed if your score is not zero. With appropriate changes in diet, exercise and medications, we now know that the process of atherosclerosis can be stabilized or even reversed.
