Your calcium score, on one page

What the number is, what it is not, and when people scan again. Educational only. Not medical advice.

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What the number measures

A coronary calcium CT is a non-contrast scan that takes a few minutes. A radiologist measures the area and density of calcified plaque in your coronary arteries and reports it as a single number: the Agatston score.

That is the entire measurement. It is a plaque-burden number — an estimate of how much atherosclerosis you have accumulated over the years — not a picture of any particular artery.

The bands

1. 0

   No identifiable calcified plaque. Generally low risk of coronary artery disease.

   A zero does not mean zero risk. The scan only sees calcified plaque, and soft non-calcified plaque does not show up. It is still the most common result for people under 45.

2. 1–10

   Minimal calcified plaque. Generally considered low risk.

   A small amount of plaque is present. Most guidelines treat this as a low-risk result, but it is a real finding and worth a conversation about the risk factors you can change.

3. 11–100

   Mild plaque. Worth discussing risk-factor modification with your doctor.

   Plaque is established. This is the band where people most often talk with a clinician about blood pressure, lipids, smoking, and family history.

4. 101–400

   Moderate plaque. Follow up with your doctor on next steps.

   A moderate burden of calcified plaque. Your clinician may want more testing or a change in how aggressively your risk factors are managed.

5. Over 400

   Extensive plaque. Higher risk. Prompt clinician follow-up.

   A high calcium burden. This is a result to take to a clinician promptly rather than sitting on. It is a measure of plaque, not a diagnosis of a blockage, and what happens next is a decision for you and your doctor.

A calcium score is one data point, not a diagnosis. What it means for you is a conversation with a licensed clinician.

Your number, versus people your age

Two people can have the same score and be in very different places. A 10 at 42 is unusual. A 10 at 74 is not. Clinicians often look at your percentile — where your score sits among people of the same age, sex and race or ethnicity — alongside the raw number.

Those reference tables come from MESA, the NHLBI’s Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. MESA’s own caveat is worth repeating: a percentile tells you whether your score is high relative to people like you. It does not by itself label you high risk.

Four things the score does not tell you

It is not a blockage. The score measures how much calcified plaque is present, not whether any artery is narrowed. Narrowing is a different question answered by a different test — a CT angiogram, CPT 75574, which uses contrast dye and costs several times more.

It cannot see soft plaque. Non-calcified plaque does not show up on a non-contrast scan. That is the main reason a score can understate things, particularly in younger people.

A zero is not immunity. It is a genuinely good result and it is not a guarantee. Soft plaque does not calcify, so it does not appear. Guidelines also read a zero differently if you smoke, have diabetes, or have a family history of premature coronary disease.

It is not a verdict. A high score describes plaque that accumulated over years. What to do about it is a decision for you and a clinician who knows your history. We are a price directory. We have never met you, and we are not going to tell you what to take.

Rescan windows: the honest version

There is no calendar rule, and anyone who gives you one has left out the condition that makes it true. The interval depends on your score, on your other risk factors, and above all on whether a new number would change a decision. If nothing about your care would change either way, a repeat scan is another dose of radiation for information nobody will act on.

What the published guidance actually says:

• If your score was 0. The 2026 ACC/AHA multisociety dyslipidemia guideline, which replaced the widely-quoted 2018 cholesterol guideline, says that for people at borderline or intermediate risk with a score of zero, no higher-risk conditions, and a preference to hold off on starting medication, it is reasonable to defer and reassess the calcium score in 3 to 7 years. The 2019 ACC/AHA primary prevention guideline, still in force, uses 5 to 10 years with the same exceptions: diabetes, family history of premature coronary heart disease, smoking. The Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography’s expert consensus says 5 years.
• If your score was above 0. That SCCT consensus suggests 3 to 5 years — and only for people in whom progression would actually change how their risk factors are managed.
• Why the numbers differ. They are answering slightly different questions and they move as evidence accumulates. A MESA analysis of how long a zero score stays zero found roughly 3 to 7 years depending on sex and race or ethnicity, with diabetes shortening it most.
• A repeat scan is not a report card on your treatment. This is the part that surprises people. Some therapies can increase the density of calcium while the plaque stabilises, so a score can rise while things are going right. Routine repeat scanning to monitor treatment is not recommended.

A calcium scan uses around 1 mSv of ionizing radiation — a few times a screening mammogram, and well under a standard chest CT. That is small, and it is not nothing, which is the other reason these intervals are measured in years.

Five questions worth asking

1. Given my score and everything else you know about me, what is my estimated risk — and did the score move it?
2. What is my percentile for my age and sex, not just the raw number?
3. Which of my risk factors would you most want to change first?
4. Would repeating this scan change anything you would do? If not, what would have to change for it to be worth repeating?
5. Does anything about my result, or any symptoms I have, point to a different test rather than a repeat of this one?

Sources

2026 ACC/AHA/Multisociety Guideline on the Management of Dyslipidemia (JACC / Circulation, March 2026), which retires and replaces the 2018 cholesterol guideline. 2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease (Circulation 2019;140:e596–e646). Hecht H, et al., SCCT expert consensus on clinical indications for coronary artery calcium scoring in asymptomatic patients (J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr 2017;11:157–168). Dzaye O, et al., Warranty Period of a Calcium Score of Zero (JACC Cardiovasc Imaging 2021;14:990–1002). MESA CAC score reference values, mesa-nhlbi.org.

This is general education, not medical advice. CalciumCT.com is a directory of published cash prices. We do not perform scans, read scans, employ clinicians, or practice medicine in any state. We never collect or store calcium scores, reports or images, and we never pass your address to a clinic.

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Last updated September 16, 2026.