Quick Heart Scan -- Research Summary

A LOOK INSIDE: Computer Tomography scanning has been used for years as a non-invasive way to diagnose potential problems with various organs, as well as bone and blood vessels. The scanning requires a patient to lie inside a large tubular machine that directs X-rays around the body to render instant images. However, doctors say the traditional CT scan has its shortcomings, which are especially apparent when images of the beating heart are taken. The heart is a constantly moving organ; so traditional CT images often appear blurry. When diagnosing blockages in coronary arteries, even a small amount of blurriness can obscure vital visual information.

MAKING IT CLEAR: A brand new version of the CT scanner is providing doctors with brilliant, clear images of the heart and other organs. It’s called Electron Beam Tomography, or EBT scanning, and it works in much the same way as traditional CT scanning. However, instead of a machine delivering X-rays around a patient’s body, EBT delivers a single electron beam at a speed 10-times faster than X-rays. The result is a much clearer image, even when scanning a beating heart.

The implications of the new technology are vast. Clearer pictures of organs and blood vessels can alleviate the need for further diagnostic testing, which can be costly and uncomfortable for a patient. For example, an EBT angiogram can produce images that can save patients from having to undergo a conventional coronary angiogram with catheterization. Daniel Berman, M.D., from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, says there are other benefits as well. He says, “The unprecedented speed of this scanner enables us to not only measure the amount of calcium in the coronary arteries -- the first sign of coronary artery disease -- but also to see the extent to which there are actual blockages of the arteries.” Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is one of the first hospitals in the nation to adopt the new technology.

WHO GETS IT? EBT scanning is not a “first-resort” type of testing. Patients will undergo several other diagnostic tests, including a stress test, before a physician recommends an EBT. While the new technology is extremely promising, doctors say it won’t necessarily replace traditional CT scanning in all cases. It does have at least one disadvantage. Compared to X-ray CT scanning, the “slices” of imagery are thicker. That means the non-invasive EBT angiogram doesn’t have as much precise detail as the standard invasive coronary angiogram.

This type of EBT testing is available at only a handful of medical centers that specialize in cardiac imagery.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

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