Heart Scan: What It Is, Who Needs It, and What It Reveals

When you hear heart scan, a noninvasive imaging test that checks for calcium buildup in the coronary arteries. Also known as a coronary calcium scan, it's one of the most direct ways to see if plaque is forming in your heart’s arteries — long before you feel chest pain or have a heart attack. Unlike an EKG or stress test, which look at how your heart functions under pressure, a heart scan shows actual physical damage. It doesn’t just guess your risk — it measures it.

This test is especially useful for people who are at moderate risk for heart disease, based on factors like age, cholesterol, blood pressure, and family history. If your ASCVD score, a calculator that estimates your 10-year risk of heart attack or stroke lands between 5% and 20%, a heart scan can help clarify whether you need stronger prevention — like statins or lifestyle changes. It’s not for everyone. If you’re young and healthy with no risk factors, it’s usually unnecessary. If you’ve already had a heart attack or stent, you already know your arteries are blocked.

What the scan finds matters more than the number. A score of zero means little to no plaque — and a very low chance of a heart event in the next five years. A score over 100 suggests mild buildup, and over 400 means significant plaque. That doesn’t mean you’re doomed — it means you have a window to act. Many people with high scores reverse their risk by lowering cholesterol, controlling blood pressure, and quitting smoking. The scan doesn’t just diagnose — it motivates.

It’s not the only tool. Doctors also use cardiac risk calculators, tools that combine age, sex, cholesterol, blood pressure, and smoking status to predict heart disease risk — but these can be wrong. A 55-year-old with normal cholesterol but a strong family history might score low on the calculator, yet have heavy plaque visible on a heart scan. That’s why the scan is becoming a game-changer for personalized prevention.

What you’ll find in the posts below are real, practical guides on how heart scans fit into broader heart health. You’ll learn how the ASCVD score works — and when it falls short. You’ll see how drugs like statins are chosen based on scan results. You’ll even find out why some people with no symptoms end up with high scores, and what they do next. This isn’t theory. These are stories from people who got scanned, got scared, and then took control.