HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR CALCIUM SCORE
- Continue taking your current medications as normal unless specified by your physician.
- Avoid caffeine and nicotine four hours prior to your exam.
- Women should always inform their physician and CT technologist if there is any possibility that they are pregnant. Many imaging test are not performed during pregnancy as to not expose the fetus to unnecessary radiation. If a CT scan is necessary, precautions will be taken to minimize radiation exposure to the baby.
SPECIFICATIONS
The syngo Calcium Scoring package allows accurate visualization and quick quantification of calcified coronary lesions. Scoring is facilitated by automatic selection and region growing tools for defining lesions in the main coronary branches (RCA, LM, LAD, CX). It is also possible to blow up the display for easier identification of small lesions. The user can perform a freehand ROI definition of lesions in addition to the seeding method. A default threshold of 130 HU is used for score calculation but can be modified based on user preference. The software allows 3D editing for separation and modification of lesions within a defined volume (depth in mm) or on 2D-slices. It also provides a one-stop comprehensive analysis of area (in mm2), peak density (in Hounsfield Units), volume (in mm3), calcium mass (mg Calcium Hydroxyapatite), and score (Agatston method).