At Torrance Memorial Medical Center, we are proud to offer the newest and most advanced diagnostic technology to identify heart disease at its earlier and most treatable stages.
With our state-of-the-art imaging tools, we can discover problems that just a few years ago were undetectable using conventional methods of diagnosis.
One of these tools is a cardiac CT scan. It's quick, non-invasive and one of the most useful tools we have for identifying hidden heart disease risk.
“Heart disease often develops quietly over decades. Tools like blood pressure checks, cholesterol testing, and calcium scoring allow us to detect risk early—when prevention is most effective and outcomes are dramatically better,” said Gaurav Banka, MD, a board-certified cardiologist with a wide range of experience in both cardiology and internal medicine.
Dr. Banka performs several services at COR Healthcare Medical Associates, including heart disease management, heart attack treatment, valvular disease, congestive heart failure, preventative cardiac care, and treatment for hypertension (high blood pressure) and high cholesterol.
Calcium in the coronary arteries is a marker of plaque buildup and early atherosclerosis, a hardening of your arteries. The higher the calcium score, the higher the likelihood that plaque is present and the greater the future risk of heart attack or stroke.
Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring is particularly helpful for:
- People with intermediate risk who are unsure whether they need cholesterol medication
- Patients with family history of premature heart disease
- Individuals with borderline or conflicting risk factors
- Patients who want a clearer, personalized understanding of their cardiovascular risk
"A score of zero can be very reassuring and may allow some patients to safely delay medication while focusing on lifestyle prevention," said Dr. Banka. "Conversely, an elevated score can help identify patients who would benefit from earlier or more aggressive treatment.
It’s important to note that calcium scoring does not replace traditional screening—it complements it by providing additional individualized risk information.
Q: What do you commonly see when patients wait too long to get screened?
A: Unfortunately, I often meet patients after their first major cardiac event. Some people discover they have severe coronary artery disease only after a heart attack, stroke, or advanced heart failure.
In many cases, their risk factors — like high blood pressure or cholesterol — had been present and treatable for years. Calcium scoring sometimes reveals that plaque had been silently building long before symptoms ever appeared.
Q: How can early detection change outcomes — even before symptoms appear?
A: Early detection allows us to:
- Start medications when appropriate
- Guide lifestyle changes that stabilize or slow plaque buildup
- Use tools like calcium scoring to refine individualized risk
- Identify high-risk individuals who may benefit from earlier intervention
- Prevent heart attacks and strokes before they occur
Preventive cardiology is one of the most powerful tools we have in medicine.
Call our free physician referral line and find a heart specialist who meets your needs.
