Coronary CT: A New Tool in the Fight Against Heart Disease

Computed Tomography (known as CT) has long been used to see the body’s internal organs. However, the heart and coronary arteries remained difficult to evaluate, because the beating heart resulted in blurry images.

Until now.

The latest generation of CT scanners, with 64 detectors (compared to 16 or fewer on its predecessors), is enabling doctors to see the heart as never before. Not only does it freeze heart motion, but allows your radiologist to see both the artery lumen (the hollow portion where the blood flows) and the artery walls, where dangerous plaque can build.

No other non-invasive test is able to see plaque in its earliest stages, before it limits blood flow to the heart muscle. Even catheter angiography (a surgical technique where a small tube is threaded up from the groin to the heart), can miss or underestimate small plaques, because blood vessels don’t narrow until plaques become relatively large.

Identifying this early plaque may be the next crucial step in combating heart disease, since rupture of these smaller plaques is a frequent cause of heart attack.

In the US, coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, and often the first sign is a heart attack or sudden death. Because of this, and despite our best efforts, deaths from heart disease have only decreased slightly over the past decade.

Now, Coronary CT can demonstrate even small amounts of plaque building up in the arteries. This information gives patients a chance to make lifestyle changes (such as diet, exercise, and smoking cessation) that may save their lives. And, when needed, medical therapy may be able to stop the plaque from growing, and even shrink.

In addition, Coronary CT is helping patients suffering from unexplained chest pain to identify its cause and direct doctors to the correct treatment.

The pain-free, non-invasive experience of Coronary CT is similar to an ordinary CT scan. First, EKG leads are placed so the CT scanner will register the patient’s heart rhythm and be able to process the image data accurately. Contrast is administered through an IV in the arm to make the arteries visible. Then, the patient holds his or her breath for 10-15 seconds while the images are acquired.