John OsborneChief Medical Officer, ClearCardio LLC · Preventive cardiologist and Chief Medical Officer at ClearCardio

What Happens When You Have Plaque in Your Arteries? #HeartHealth#Cardiology#Arteries

26 Sept 2026 · 0 min

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0:27

In this brief segment, the presenter explains that early-stage, lipid‑rich (soft) plaque in the arteries is not detected by a calcium score because it lacks calcification. While a zero calcium score is often interpreted as an arterial age of 39, this metric misses soft plaque, highlighting a limitation of calcium scoring for early atherosclerotic changes.

When plaque builds up and develops, the stuff that is laid down initially is invisible on a calcium score. So remember, calcium score is good. If you have a zero calcium score, your arterial age is 39. However, when plaque builds up and develops, the stuff that is laid down initially is invisible on a calcium score because it's lipid. We call it soft plaque, cholesterol plaque, lipid-rich plaque, all synonyms. That is invisible on a calcium score.