Q: How important is my calcium score?
A: In the days before we could measure the amount of plaque with the CT angiogram, we would watch scores on calcium the way men watch scores on ESPN. That's because calcium is a rough indicator of how much—or little—heart-hurting plaque you have. Like other numbers measuring heart and arterial function, the calcium score helps determine your risk. If the number is low (say, less than 10), it means that you have almost no plaque and you have a greater chance of opening a car wash on Neptune than you do of having a heart attack. After that, risks increase when scores increase: Some risk from 10 to 100, moderate risk from 100 to 400, and we're reserving a hospital bed if you score over 400. Now, though, we'd rather focus on the plaque itself—because the calcium actually might help stabilize the plaque and reduce the chance of it rupturing. But even now, and especially if the calcium score is between 10 and 400, it still means the game is still being contested, and you can determine what the score is when yellow (the final scores) appear on your screen.
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