Why is it done?
By evaluating and measuring the calcium build up in your coronary arteries, one can calculate your risk of heart attack, and give you the opportunity to seek treatment and make appropriate life-style changes.... and give you peace of mind that you are now in charge of your health. It is usually advised for individuals at a high risk for developing coronary artery disease. It may pick up beginning of CAD much before a TMT can detect it.

HOW IS IT DONE?
It is performed on an advanced 16 slice CT scanner. The speed & multislice function of this scanner can freeze cardiac motion during a single breath hold & allows multiple fine slices of the heart to be evaluated for the presence of Calcium, the marker for plaque. A special scan is taken of heart during one breath hold, lasting about 20 seconds. This procedure requires no injections, treadmills, or any other preparation such as fasting. The information obtained will then be subjected to a computer assisted analysis with special calcium scoring software that measures the amount of calcium in coronary arteries.