From Ataşehir Hospital Cardiology Department, Uz. Dr. Mehmet Karaca gave information about the "Coronary artery calcium scoring test", which determines the risk of heart attack. Stating that the majority of sudden heart attacks are experienced in people who have no clinical complaints, Dr. "Early diagnosis and treatment are extremely important," Karaca said. In order to prevent cardiovascular diseases, first of all, the risk profile should be determined and appropriate prevention methods should be applied according to this risk profile. Coronary artery calcium scoring technique, which helps to visualize the presence and extent of coronary atherosclerosis, that is, calcification in the heart vessels, comes to the fore in terms of early diagnosis of heart diseases. With the imaging of vascular calcification, it is possible to detect cardiovascular disease in the period when there is no clinical finding, that is, when there is no complaint, and prevent its progression and possible heart attacks.' said.
“You can find out your heart attack risk in a very short time”
Stating that the coronary artery calcium scoring technique, which is a screening test, is applied to healthy people between the ages of 40 and 70, Uz. Dr. Mehmet Karaca said, “The coronary artery calcium scoring test, which is taken in about 15 seconds by giving low-dose radiation with a tomography device, does not affect the kidneys as no drug is given intravenously. Coronary artery calcium scoring test, which is a very simple and reliable test, can especially contribute to determining the need for interventional angiography. In this way, calcium accumulation in the heart vessels, which is the definitive indicator of vascular calcification, can be seen without administering drugs through the vascular access. he said.
“Your treatment can be determined by your calcium score”
Underlining that the results obtained with the coronary artery calcium scoring technique are used together with risk scoring methods based on traditional risk factors, they can contribute to the follow-up and treatment of patients by providing additional information. Dr. Karaca said, “As the coronary calcium load increases, the risk of having a heart attack increases relatively. All patients with a calcium score above 100 should be considered candidates for anticoagulant and cholesterol medication. A calcium score of 0 means no calcific atherosclerotic plaque. So there is no risk of having a heart attack.” used the phrases.
A score between 1 and 10 is low risk.
Between 10 and 100, medium risk
High risk between 100-400
Over 400 is considered a very high risk group.
The age of the heart can be determined
Coronary artery calcium scoring method can also provide important information in determining the age of the heart and blood vessels. Besides the coronary artery calcium score;
- Age
- Gender
- total cholesterol
- HDL (Good cholesterol)
- Greater blood pressure value
- Cigarette consumption
- Heart age can be calculated with the use of blood pressure medication.
This can be explained by giving an example through 2 people:
Example 1 Mr. Ahmet
Coronary artery calcium score: 0
Age 45
Gender male
Total cholesterol: 250
HDL: 39
diastolic blood pressure: 110
Smoking: He smokes
Blood pressure medication: Not using
Calculated heart age: 39
2nd example Mr. Mehmet
Coronary artery calcium score: 100
Age 45
Gender male
Total cholesterol: 250
HDL: 39
diastolic blood pressure: 110
Smoking: He smokes
Blood pressure medication: Not using
Calculated heart age: 73
Upset. Dr. Mehmet Karaca said, “We see that the only difference between Ahmet Bey and Mehmet, who are both 45 years old and have the same features, is the calcification in the heart vessels, that is, the coronary artery calcium scores and the cardiovascular ages are 39 in one and 73 in the other. This highlights the importance of this radiological imaging examination that we have done. Before it's too late, you can learn the amount of calcification in your heart vessels with coronary artery calcium scoring, which is a very practical test, in 15 seconds and you can take your precautions.” he stressed.