64-slice CT Scan & Coronary Calcium Score

A diagnosis of coronary calcium scoring is done by a 64-slice CT scanner. It can take clear pictures of the coronary arteries. A 64-slice CT scanner predicts coronary artery disease. Coronary artery calcification shows the extent of coronary artery disease. Atherosclerosis or calcification is the narrowing of the arteries through the building up of plaque which is one of the major risk factor in heart diseases. The results obtain from this test is known as coronary calcium score.

The one way of diagnosing the type and the amount of the disease is the coronary CT angiography. This coronary CT angiography show great scope of diagnosis heart disease. The CT angiogram gives images of inner part of the blood vessel. It also gives images of the amount of plaque in the wall and it is one of the major risk factors in heart diseases. The plaque can be divided into three spectrums i.e., fatty, fibrous of calcified.

The 64-slice scanner does both calcium scoring and coronary CT angiography. Coronary CT angiography is one way in which we can find out the extent of the disease. Coronary calcium scoring makes it known to the patient their risk factors, and it compares patients in the same age groups with patients in other age groups. Patients are classified as low, normal, moderate and severe risk. Patients with low scoring the diagnosis test take only five or ten minutes. On the other hand patients with high scoring a CT angiogram is done with the same machine. It gives the patients an idea of the amount of plaque in the walls of the blood vessels.

Coronary calcium scoring only shows calcified plaque, whereas softer plaques cannot be identified. The benefits of coronary CT angiography identify softer plaques and educate the patients to prevent the disease instead of going through long expensive procedures. The CT angiography is recommended for patients in the age group of 40 and 50. It is important to educate the patients of the risk factors and prevent heart disease. Patients who have a family history of heart diseases, high blood pressure or cholesterol, who are diabetic, smoke, or who have lipid abnormalities have a high chance of heart diseases. Age is also a factor which trigger heart diseases.

The important steps to prevent coronary artery calcification are by keeping body weight under control, exercising regularly, sticking to a healthy diet and avoiding smoking. A new study has shown that care of your gums and regular visits to the dentist could keep heart diseases away. Atherosclerosis progressed in parallel with both clinical periodontal disease and bacterial profiles in the gums.