Cardiac scoring
http://www.allieddiagnostics.net/specialities/cardiac-imaging/cardiac-scoring/
What is cardiac scoring?
Cardiac scoring (or coronary artery calcium scoring) is a non-invasive, painless screening of the heart for calcium deposits in the coronary arteries, which are the blood vessels that bring oxygen and nutrients to the heart. As calcium deposits build up, the blood vessels narrow, allowing less blood and oxygen to the heart. Coronary calcium can develop as early as the second decade of life. Although it is more common in advanced age, coronary calcium is not an inevitable part of aging. Calcium deposits can be absent in normal vessel walls, regardless of age.
Cardiac scoring is performed in just 20 seconds on a GE 64 slice computed tomography (VCT) scanner and is extremely accurate in detecting the presence, extent, and severity of hard plaque burden within the coronary arteries. Hard plaque is a known indicator of coronary artery disease (CAD). Prior to advancements in CT scanning, it was extremely difficult to detect the very small calcium deposits that form in the early stages of heart disease. However, with the GE 64 slice CT scanning, even minuscule calcium deposits can be detected easily.
Why is getting a cardiac score important?
Coronary artery disease (CAD) or atherosclerosis is the number one cause of death of both men and women, claiming over 500,000 lives each year. Over 400 people under age 65 die each day from cardiac events (i.e. myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure and stroke) related to CAD, many without prior symptoms or warning. Typically, patients are diagnosed with CAD when they have already shown symptoms (e.g. chest pain, fatigue), responded abnormally to stress testing, or undergone cardiac angiography. This means that the opportunity for prevention is lost and the patient may have already suffered irreversible consequences or a cardiac event.
Cardiac scoring can detect coronary calcium in its early stages. Early detection allows for positive lifestyle changes to be made that will help prevent or minimize further progression of CAD or cardiac events. Currently, preventive therapies for heart disease include blood pressure and lipid control, stopping smoking, diet, and regular exercise. The use of statins to reduce blood cholesterol has been shown to decrease the risk of heart attack by one third.
Who should have cardiac scoring?
Cardiac scoring is recommended for generally healthy, asymptomatic males over age 45 and females over age 55 who are at risk for CAD. Individuals with a strong family history of heart disease may want to undergo cardiac scoring as early as age 35 or 45.
The following are major risk factors for CAD:
- Family history of coronary artery disease
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- History of smoking
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Sedentary lifestyle
- High level of stress
How does cardiac scoring work?
Cardiac scoring and all other virtual studies at Allied Diagnostics are performed on the GE 64 slice VCT scanner. CT stands for computed tomography, a process by which a digital picture is made by a computer after low-dose x-rays record a slice or cross section of the body. A CT scanner is a diagnostic tool which, for cardiac scoring, allows visualization of the heart and its internal structures. The word ‘slice’ is often used to explain the images taken of patient anatomy because they are similar to a single slice of bread taken from a whole loaf (Figure 1).
During the cardiac scoring procedure, the patient is asked to lie on the table of the CT scanner. This tabletop moves the patient’s body through the CT scanner’s gantry, which houses an x-ray tube and detectors. The tube rotates around the patient as x-rays pass through the body to the detectors, where thousands of x-ray measurements are recorded. Next the computer processes this information and displays the corresponding images on a computer screen. This imaging technique avoids any overlap of organs or tissues.
Our GE 64 slice VCT scanner can capture these images of the heart during a single breath-hold, which means less stress and discomfort for the patient and a faster examination time. The cardiac scoring procedure takes only 5 minutes because the CT scanner can take 64 thin slices of the heart per second. This high scanning speed allows for clearer, sharper images with fewer artifacts (false images due to blurring) caused by movement of the body.
