Interpreting a cardiac ct scan

My husband is 78 and just had a coronary ct scan.  His calcium score is 1610..  I don't think he fasted for 12 hours before the test.  Is he in immediate jeopardy for a possible heart attack?

[Darcy Green Conaway, MD]

Coronary calcium scans are one of the most sensitive tests we have to detect CAD. That calcium score is very high and most cardiologists would want to see him and discuss symptoms; many would proceed with a stress test.
It does not matter that he didn't fast--
Coronary calcium scores are:
1) independent predictors of coronary artery disease events (heart attacks) and
2) can be used to modify an individual's risk (increase the known risk or decrease the known risk) after the person has been assessed with the Framingham Risk Score.
To answer  your question, I would say he has increased risk over someone with a score of 0 and warrants very aggressive risk factor modification and should be seen by a cardiologist and considered for a stress test.

[plantgram]

A related discussion, ct calcium scores was started.