Coronary Artery Calcium Scanning in Paducah, KY
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Coronary Artery Calcium Scanning in Paducah, KY Healthtalk Transcript
Teri Stapleton, MD, Family Medicine
Brian Lea, MD, Cardiology
Baptist Health Paducah
Teri Stapleton, MD:
A coronary artery calcium scan is a special CAT scan that looks at the plaque buildup in a patient's coronary arteries. We decide a patient may benefit from a CAC when they have risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease. Such risk factors may include obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, or a family history of heart disease.
Brian Lea, MD:
The higher a calcium score is, the higher a person's risk of future cardiovascular events. A score of over 400 is a high calcium score and correlates with a high risk of future cardiovascular events, typically within the next five years. If someone comes back with an elevated coronary artery calcium score, it can prompt us to use additional medications, such as statins, to help lower LDL and reduce inflammation. Another big aspect that can change is someone might know more about their risk, know there's atherosclerosis there, and that prompts them to make lifestyle changes — better diet, more exercise, etc.
Teri Stapleton, MD:
For any patients who are on the fence about having the CAC scan, it is a pain-free exam. It helps us to minimize risk factors earlier rather than later.
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