Jacksonville, Fla.-Shands Jacksonville now offers the city’s first advanced cardiac imaging scanner using 16 multi-slice computer tomography (CT) for optimized risk assessment of coronary artery disease, allowing for a faster and more accurate diagnosis.
One of the major uses of this cutting-edge technology is as a screening test for determining if patients, primarily between 50 and 60 years of age, are at a high risk for coronary artery disease. The 16-slice CT scanner detects the calcification or hardening of coronary arteries. “If there is no calcification, there is an overall low likelihood of coronary artery disease in asymptomatic patients. Even so, 5 percent to 10 percent of patients may still suffer from soft plaque in their coronary arteries, which could be detected with a CT angiography in the same setting, ” says Norbert Wilke, MD, University of Florida associate professor of radiology/cardiology and chief of cardiovascular MR/CT.
This state-of-the art CT scanner, SENSATION 16, developed by SIEMENS, can perform a computer-generated coronary angiogram, that produces a 3-D image of the coronary arteries. Traditionally, this test required an invasive procedure of puncturing an artery and inserting a heart catheter.
Not limited to just cardiac purposes, the 16-slice CT scanner can also be used for preventive imaging in the early detection of lung and colon cancers. “With this new scanner, physicians can virtually travel up the colon, which spares the use of a barium enema and an endoscope,” Wilke comments.
There are several advantages to patients using the 16-slice scanner for coronary artery disease risk assessment or for preventive imaging. Now patients can get a faster and more accurate diagnosis because this revolutionary CT scanner can image a larger volume area, such as the heart or lungs, at a higher resolution in a shorter time frame.
Due to a faster image scan, there is also less motion, resulting in a better quality picture. With older technology like the four-slice scanner used in most hospitals, 30 percent of cardiac patients were not suitable candidates for minimal invasive coronary artery imaging because there was too much motion from the heart. At present, the percentage of unsuitable candidates has dropped to only 7 percent with the use of the new multi-slice CT scanner, which also uses less radiation than the older four-slice CT scanner.
The new 16-slice CT scanner is a part of the advanced cardiac imaging program operated by The Cardiovascular Center at Shands Jacksonville and the University of Florida’s Radiology Department. In order to obtain preventive imaging, a screening test or coronary CT angiogram, patients should get a referral from their primary care physician.