Coronary Calcium Scan
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 Mushabbar A. Syed, MD, FACC
Director, Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Program
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Dr. Syed is a board-certified cardiologist and is level-III certified in echocardiography, cardiovascular MRI and cardiovascular CT. He leads a team of specialists in cardiovascular medicine and radiology to offer the most thorough cardiac imaging services available in Kentucky.
Dr. Syed completed residencies at Mayo Hospital in Lahore, Pakistan; Blackburn Royal Infirmary in the United Kingdom; and Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. He completed cardiovascular medicine and echocardiography fellowships at Henry Ford Hospital, followed by fellowships in cardiovascular MRI at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Md., and the Cardiovascular CT Training at University of Erlangen in Germany, respectively.
Dr. Syed is a regular speaker at national and international conferences and serves on several national committees related to cardiovascular MRI and CT.
To schedule a coronary calcium scan, please call the UK Gill Imaging Center at 859-323-9729. To learn more about the UK Gill Heart Institute, please visit ukhealthcare.uky.edu/Gillheart.
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The UK Gill Heart Institute offers coronary calcium screening scans that can help diagnose early coronary artery disease (CAD). In CAD, a fatty material called plaque narrows your coronary (heart) arteries and limits blood flow to your heart. CAD is the most common type of heart disease in both men and women. It can lead to angina, heart attack, heart failure and arrhythmia.
A coronary calcium scan looks for specks of calcium (called calcifications) in the walls of the coronary arteries. Calcifications are an early sign of plaque development in the heart’s blood vessels. The test can show, before other signs and symptoms occur, whether you’re at increased risk for a heart attack or other heart problems.
A coronary calcium scan is most useful for people who are at moderate risk for a heart attack. CAD risk factors include high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol, diabetes and a family history of the problem. Physicians routinely use the Framingham risk score to calculate individual risk of future heart attack; recent studies have shown that coronary calcium score has additive value in refining this risk calculation.
The scans are offered as part of the UK Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Program. This program is conveniently located in the UK Gill Imaging Center on the ground floor of the Linda and Jack Gill Building. We provide complete cardiovascular imaging services to detect heart and vascular disease at the earliest stages when treatment can be most effective, as well as the latest approaches for the assessment of patients already known to have cardiac disease.
No special preparation at home is needed for a coronary calcium scan.
Before the scan, you will remove your clothes above the waist and wear a hospital gown. You will also remove any jewelry from around your neck or chest.
Coronary calcium scans are not covered under insurance policies. The fee for the scan is $120. You will be responsible for $100 at time of service. |
To perform the scan, an X-ray machine called a computed tomography (CT) scanner is used. The technician who operates the scanner will clean areas of your chest and apply small sticky patches called electrodes. The electrodes are attached to an EKG (electrocardiogram) monitor. The EKG measures the electrical activity of your heart during the scan. This makes it possible to take pictures of your heart when it’s relaxed, between beats.
A coronary calcium scan lasts about 5 to 10 minutes. During the test, the machine makes clicking and whirring sounds as it takes pictures. It causes no discomfort, but the exam room may be chilly to keep the machine working properly.
If you become nervous in enclosed spaces, you may need to take medicine to stay calm. This isn’t a problem for most people, because your head will remain outside the opening of the machine.
Source: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute
A report with the scan findings will be mailed to you and your primary care physician. If further follow-up is necessary, you can schedule an appointment with a cardiologist at the UK Gill Heart Institute or follow up with your primary care physician.
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