Ultrafast Ct Scan Predicts Heart Problems System Measures Calcium Deposits In Coronary Arteries

A relatively low-cost, ultrafast type of CT scanning has proved a powerful predictor of heart attacks and heart blockages, even in young, apparently healthy people.

“I think this test is going to change the way doctors think about identifying people at risk for developing coronary artery disease,” said Dr. Alan Guerci, author of a study published in today’s issue of the American Heart Association journal Circulation.

Research has shown a correlation between heart disease and calcium deposits in the heart arteries. But because the coronary arteries are in constant motion as the heart beats, getting X-ray images was difficult until the advent of superfast EBCT, or Electron Beam Computed Tomography.

Ultrafast CT scanning measures calcium deposits in five minutes by providing a cross-sectional image of the heart and arteries.

In the study, researchers used EBCT in 1,173 patients with no symptoms of heart trouble in 1993 and 1994, then followed them for an average of 19 months to watch for heart attacks or heart-artery blockages requiring angioplasty or bypass surgery.

EBCT provided doctors with a calcium content score for each patient.

Among those who had scores of 160 or above, 7 percent had heart trouble during the follow-up period, compared with 14 percent of those with scores of 680 or above.

The average score was 935 in patients who later showed heart problems vs. 144 in the others.

EBCT proved to be 10 times more powerful a predictor of heart attacks and blockages than the standard nonsurgical technique: a combination of cholesterol testing and asking the patient about such risk factors as smoking, high blood pressure and a family history of heart disease, said Guerci, director of research at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, N.Y.

Patients who are found to be at risk can be treated with medication, diet and exercise, said Yadon Arad, a co-author of the study.

EBCT scanning costs $375 to $500 in the United States.

However, the $2 million cost of the machine combined with insurance companies’ refusal to pay for the test for healthy people precludes its widespread use, experts said. About 35 machines are being used in the United States.