Life Line Screening
Life Line Screening is a mobile heath screening service. They set up at various locations, often churches and hotels. I got the “Stroke & Cardiovascular Risk Screening,” and they offer many other tests, including some that require fasting and drawing of blood. It’s an easy way to get information that is specific to me. Results take a week or two. Normal risk assessments are statistical. They are not about you personally, except for blood pressure and cholesterol, but about the categories in which you fit. To wit, sex, age, non-smoker, family history, and level of activity. Using these broad categories, Kaiser puts my heart/stroke risk at 9.7% over the next ten years as of April 2023, and calls that “moderate.” This is up from 8.1 and 6.7 for my previous two check-ins.
The tests I had were done with ultrasound, EKG, and blood pressure cuffs on all four limbs.
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening
This test uses ultrasound to look for weakened portions of the aorta and iliac arteries, which can appear as widening or ballooning of the vessel. My result was < 3cm, which would be quite a ballooned artery indeed. My Risk Category was Normal.
Atrial Fibrillation
This test uses EKG electrodes at the wrists and ankles to check for irregular heartbeats. My heart beat at 63 beats per minute, and was regular. Assessment Normal.
For comparison, I happened to have an EKG done at Kaiser Permanente just eight days earlier. My heart beat on that occasion was 64 bpm, and it measured atrial as well as ventricular heart beat, PR, QRS, and QT intervals, frontal axis: p, right axis, and frontal axis: t. Fortunately, all of that was ruled normal. I have only the foggiest ideas of what these measurements mean.
Carotid Artery Disease Screening
This test uses ultrasound to look for blockage in the carotid arteries, which supply blood to the brain. This is the test of greatest interest to me, since my cardiac calcium scan showed moderate blockage. The results include two measurements, corresponding to the left and right carotid. Peak systolic velocity (PSV) corresponds to each tall “peak” in the spectrum window. Both of mine were in the (very large?) range 11-125 cm/s, meaning I have some plaque which does not affect the blood flow. There are six categories, in order from best to worst: Normal, Mild, Moderate, Significant, Critical, and Possible Occlusion. My category was Mild.
Peripheral Arterial Disease Screening
This test checks for clogging of the arteries in the arms and legs, using a blood pressure cuff on each one. It measures an ankle brachial index (ABI). Normal is 0.9 to 1.4, and both lower than that and higher than that are considered abnormal. I measured 1.07 on my right side and 1.23 on my left side, both normal.
It was somewhat a relief not to get more bad news from the Life Line Screening. I do not expect to go back regularly, but I would consider it should a reason arise.
