Mito now sells direct-to-consumer coronary artery calcium scanning for $249 to members ($348.60 without), with no referral required and results in 24–48 hours. The scan quantifies calcified coronary plaque, converting lipid and metabolic risk markers into evidence of established arterial disease, and in MESA data a score above 300 carried roughly 9.7 times the adjusted coronary event risk of a score of zero. Its eligibility criteria are broader than the guideline population it cites, and a score of zero excludes only hardened plaque, not soft plaque or luminal narrowing.
Key Points
- Calcium score shows accrued arterial damage, not just risk drivers
- Score above 300 carried 9.7x adjusted coronary event risk
- Zero score misses soft plaque; 44% of statin candidates scored zero
Longevity Analysis
ApoB, Lp(a) and inflammatory markers describe the pressure on the arterial wall; calcium scoring records what that pressure has already produced. The distinction matters for sequencing decisions — whether to intervene pharmacologically now or address the drivers and rescan in three to seven years — and it rewards accurate interpretation over simple test accumulation. Direct access removes a referral barrier but shifts the interpretive burden onto the individual, where a zero score can be misread as permission to disregard an elevated lipid burden that is still actively remodeling vessels.
Original published by Longevity.Technology, by Kyle Umipig.