A cardiac CT scan scoring determines if coronary artery disease (CAD) is present and to what extent, even if there are no symptoms. It’s a screening that may be recommended by a physician for patients with risk factors for CAD but no clinical symptoms. Because calcium is a marker of CAD, the amount of calcium detected on a cardiac CT scan is a helpful prognostic tool. The findings on cardiac CT are expressed as a calcium score. This Is also known as coronary artery calcium scoring.
Here are some scoring guidelines
- Coronary calcium score 0: No identifiable plaque. The risk of coronary artery disease is very low (< 5%)
- Coronary calcium score 1-10: Mild identifiable plaque. The risk of coronary artery disease is low (<10%)
- Coronary calcium score 11-100: Definite, at least mild atherosclerotic plaque. Mild or minimal coronary narrowings likely
- Coronary calcium score 101-400: Definite, at least moderate atherosclerotic plaque. Mild coronary artery disease is highly likely Significant Narrowings are possible.
- Coronary calcium score > 400: extensive atherosclerotic plaque. high likelihood of at least one significant coronary narrowing
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