Imaging~15 min
Coronary Calcium Score
A quick CT scan that measures the amount of calcified plaque in your heart arteries to assess your risk of a future heart attack.
The coronary artery calcium (CAC) score is a low-dose CT scan that quantifies calcified plaque in the coronary arteries. It is the most effective non-invasive cardiovascular risk assessment tool for people without symptoms, providing prognostic information independent of traditional risk factors.
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A quick, low-dose CT scan quantifies the amount of calcium buildup in the coronary arteries to assess early heart disease.
What the Calcium Score Actually Measures
Fatty plaque in a coronary artery slowly hardens with calcium as it ages. That calcium shows up clearly on a CT scan, and the more there is, the more plaque the artery wall holds.
The coronary calcium score counts it and turns it into a single number, the Agatston score. Unlike a cholesterol result or a blood-pressure reading, which estimate the chance of disease, the calcium score looks directly at your own arteries and shows what has actually built up over your lifetime. For someone without symptoms, it is the single best refiner of heart-attack risk we have.
The coronary calcium score counts it and turns it into a single number, the Agatston score. Unlike a cholesterol result or a blood-pressure reading, which estimate the chance of disease, the calcium score looks directly at your own arteries and shows what has actually built up over your lifetime. For someone without symptoms, it is the single best refiner of heart-attack risk we have.
The Scan Itself
Nothing to prepare — no fasting, no injection, no dye. You lie on the CT couch with three ECG stickers on the chest, hold your breath for a few seconds while the scanner passes over the heart, and you are done in about ten minutes. The radiation dose is roughly 1 mSv, similar to a year of ordinary background radiation or a long-haul flight.
What Your Number Means
The Agatston score falls into broad bands:
- 0 — no detectable calcified plaque; the risk of a heart attack in the next five to ten years is very low, even with risk factors
- 1–99 — mild plaque; a good moment to tighten lifestyle and often to start a statin
- 100–399 — moderate plaque; statin therapy is clearly indicated and risk-factor control matters
- 400 or more — extensive plaque; intensive medical therapy, and a stress test or CT angiogram if there are any symptoms
Who It Helps Most in Singapore
The scan is most useful when the decision to treat is genuinely on the fence.
- Adults roughly 40 to 75 with risk factors — family history, borderline cholesterol, prediabetes — but no symptoms
- Anyone unsure whether they really need to start a statin
- People who want an objective picture rather than a risk calculator estimate
- It is not the test for someone with active chest pain — that needs a stress test or CT coronary angiogram instead
- Privately in Singapore a calcium score costs roughly SGD 150 to SGD 400
What We Do With the Result
Dr. Chang puts the score together with your age, sex and risk factors to give a personalised ten-year risk and a clear recommendation. A zero score can safely postpone medication and is worth repeating in about five years. A high score is not a cause for alarm in itself — calcified plaque is stable plaque — but it is a firm signal to treat cholesterol and blood pressure properly and to act on any new symptoms promptly.
Coronary Calcium Score: Common Questions
Ready to Schedule Your Coronary Calcium Score?
Most evaluations are available on the same day as your consultation with Dr. Peter Chang at Paragon Medical Centre, Singapore.