Coronary Calcium Score

Low-dose, no-contrast CT scan that measures calcified plaque in the coronary arteries and produces an Agatston score — one of the most powerful independent predictors of cardiovascular event risk available without any invasive procedure.

The coronary calcium score (CCS) at Regina Maria Campus Medical Pallady is a brief, low-radiation CT examination performed without contrast agents or any special preparation beyond avoiding strenuous exercise for a few hours beforehand. The total scan time is under ten minutes, and the radiation dose is comparable to a standard chest X-ray series, making it among the most accessible cardiac risk tests in terms of both time and physiological burden. During the scan, the patient lies still on the CT table while the scanner acquires ECG-gated images of the heart region. Gating means image acquisition is synchronised to a specific phase of the cardiac cycle — typically late diastole, when the heart is moving least — to prevent motion blur from reducing the diagnostic quality of the images. The resulting slices reveal any bright calcified deposits within the walls of the coronary arteries, which represent areas where atherosclerotic plaque has mineralised over years of accumulation. The radiologist applies the Agatston scoring algorithm, which weights each calcified focus by its peak density and cross-sectional area, then sums scores across all four coronary territories — left main, left anterior descending, left circumflex, and right coronary artery — to produce a single total score. The total Agatston score places the patient in a cardiovascular risk category that is independent of, and often more informative than, traditional risk calculators based on age, lipids, blood pressure, and smoking history. A score of zero is particularly powerful: it identifies patients whose coronary arteries contain no detectable calcification at the current time. Multiple large cohort studies, including the MESA trial, have shown that a calcium score of zero is associated with a very low ten-year risk of major cardiovascular events, sufficient to allow most borderline-risk patients to defer or decline statin therapy safely. Scores between 1 and 100 indicate mild subclinical atherosclerosis; scores between 100 and 400 signal moderate plaque burden with meaningfully elevated risk; and scores above 400 represent extensive plaque loading that typically warrants intensive cardiovascular risk management and further downstream investigation. For medical tourists and self-pay patients attending Regina Maria in Bucharest, the calcium score offers a rapid, low-cost cardiovascular health checkpoint that can be completed within a single morning visit at the Pallady campus. It combines well with other blood-based cardiovascular biomarkers — lipid panel, apolipoprotein B, hs-CRP, Lp(a) — available at the same campus. The standalone score is also the first step in the combined cardiac CT programme for patients who wish to proceed to full coronary CT angiography. The campus is accessible by metro (Nicolae Teclu station) and is open Monday through Friday 08:00–20:00 and Saturday 08:00–14:00. Appointment bookings are handled via the contact centre at 021 9268 or through the English-language website.