Shown in recent studies to be a more powerful predictor of heart disease than cholesterol levels, Cardiac Calcium Scoring (CCS) is a revolutionary procedure that reveals the amount of calcified plaque on the coronary arteries, an indicator of a person’s risk of heart attack.

During Cardiac Calcium Scoring, patients lie comfortably on an imaging table and hold their breath for intervals of approximately 20 seconds while a CT scanner takes images of their coronary arteries. Afterward, one of Princeton Radiology’s Board certified radiologists reviews the images, looking for areas of arterial calcification, or “plaque” buildup. The total amount of “plaque” buildup the images reveal determines a patient’s overall cardiac risk, which is designated by a number called a Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) score.