Can I get an MRI for a cardiac calcium score rather than a CT?

Check with your cardiologist to be sure.

I listen to the medical channel on SirisuXM (#110) – they had a session on this about a month ago. I don’t recall all the details, but I do remember that they said that the cardiac calcium score was not a particularly trustworthy indicator of anything. It’s more of a general guidepost than anything that is actionable.

You have probably seen this

@elbanditoroso Thanks for the link. It is different than the one I looked at. It is interesting that it shows the calcium scan on the lower end of what I read. It probably depends on the specific machine and also maybe how fast someone’s heartbeat is? I don’t know if that matters for that scan.

Someone else told me their doctor said the calcium scan is not worth doing. My friend just had it done, he is high risk in his family and his cholesterol ratio isn’t good. His scan was fabulous. It gave him some reassurance. He still tries to fix his cholesterol problem. If I got a fabulous calcium score I would be so happy.

My mom did it 20 years ago and her score was bad. She is still alive. She does have osteoporosis, which makes sense. I haven’t done a bone scan. I was in a bad accident and didn’t break anything so I figure I am ok. That’s my type of typical logic.

Would you do the calcium score if you were high risk for heart disease? I want to do it in hopes of getting a great result. A bad result would not be surprising at all and just more information I am highish risk for a cardiac event.

To me, it doesn’t sound like a test that would give a lot of important information. It says that after the scan, the radiologist gives your doc the results and that “Knowing your score can help your doctor decide on blood pressure and cholesterol goals that will minimize your risk as much as possible.” If you know you have cardiac disease, you’re probably already on cholesterol-lowering meds, and possibly blood pressure meds. They open the article by saying that the test could save your life, but, forgive my cynicism, since it’s Johns Hopkins, they could be promoting the test for income purposes.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/imaging/exams-and-procedures/screenings/cardiac-calcium-scoring.html
The exam takes less than 10 minutes, is painless and does not require any IV or oral contrast. The exam is typically not covered by insurance. The fee at Johns Hopkins Medical Imaging locations is $75.

Another site says an MRI cannot be used for calcium screening because the MRI is relatively insensitive for detection of calcification.

^^Thank you!