News of the sudden death of actor James Gandolfini yesterday at 51 while on vacation in Rome is reminiscent of the 50’s and 60’s, before we learned as much as we know now about cardiovascular disease. Sudden death was much more common back then for men in their 50s, or even 40s.

News of the sudden death of actor James Gandolfini yesterday at 51 while on vacation in Rome is reminiscent of the 50’s and 60’s, before we learned as much as we know now about cardiovascular disease. Sudden death was much more common back then for men in their 50s, or even 40s. 

We send our condolences to Mr. Gandolfini’s family, friends, and fans.

At HeartCare, we now send many of our ongoing patients for a coronary calcium score, which measures the calcified plaque in the coronary arteries. The score is calculated against a very large database and measures risk of future events. We use this score to determine how aggressively to treat our patients. The images are obtained noninvasively by an electron-beam CT scanner in about 10 minutes.

We find this to be the most accurate assessment of cardiovascular risk. This is information that used to be available only via autopsy, since the plaque that causes heart attack and stroke is invisible. Once calcified, however, it is measurable via the EBCT scanner. The database has been collected over decades for reliability of measuring risk.

The advances in medical devices and cardiac research have enabled proactive diagnoses and treatment of this invisible and dangerous disease.

Prevention is the best medicine.