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By Mayo Clinic staff
During the procedure
A heart scan takes only a few minutes. The scan will show the calcium in your heart arteries by using computerized tomography (CT).
A CT scan is an X-ray technique that produces images of your internal organs that are more detailed than are those produced by conventional X-ray exams. CT scans use an X-ray-generating device that rotates around your body and a very powerful computer to create cross-sectional images, like slices, of the inside of your body.
Calcium deposits show up as bright white spots on the scan. The standard imaging technique for coronary arteries uses electron beam computerized tomography (EBCT), also called ultra-fast CT.
Before the scan, you may be asked to change into a hospital gown, although some facilities don't require it. You'll lie on a table with a few electrodes attached to your chest. The table will slide into the CT scanner, which creates the images. You may be asked to hold your breath for a few seconds so that the technicians can get clear images of your heart. After a few minutes, your doctor or technician will have a score that helps estimate your heart attack risk - and may help guide treatment.
In addition to identifying calcium, CT scans can produce detailed pictures of your heart arteries to show the presence of any narrowing (stenosis) of your heart arteries due to coronary artery disease. For this type of cardiac CT, dye is injected into a vein to visualize the coronary arteries (called CT angiography).
After the procedure
There aren't any special precautions you need to take after having a heart scan. You should be able to drive yourself home and continue your daily activities.
- Greenland P, et al. ACCF/AHA 2007 clinical expert consensus document on coronary artery calcium scoring by computed tomography in global cardiovascular risk assessment and in evaluation of patients with chest pain. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2007;49:378.
- Screening for coronary heart disease: Recommendation statement. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstf/uspsacad.htm. Accessed Aug. 10, 2010.
- Coronary calcium scan. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/cscan/cscan_all.html. Accessed Aug. 10, 2010.
- Bonow RO. Should coronary calcium screening be used in cardiovascular prevention strategies? New England Journal of Medicine. 2009;361:990.
- Nieman K, et al. Comparison of the value of coronary calcium detection to computed tomographic angiography and exercise testing in patients with chest pain. The American Journal of Cardiology. 2009;104:1499.
- Shaw LJ, et al. Induced cardiovascular procedural costs and resource consumption patterns after coronary artery calcium screening. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2010;54:1258.
- Cademartiri F, et al. Coronary calcium score and computed tomography coronary angiography in high-risk asymptomatic subjects: Assessment of diagnostic accuracy and prevalence of non-obstructive coronary artery disease. European Radiology. 2010;20:846.
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