CT Coronary Angiography and Coronary Artery Calcium Score
CT coronary angiography represents an innovative and highly precise method for diagnosing issues with the heart's blood vessels. This technique enables a detailed examination of the coronary arteries without invasive procedures, providing physicians with rapid and accurate information about their condition. Below, we will explore the key advantages of CT coronary angiography and how this technology is revolutionizing the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases.
Advantages of CT coronary angiography
- Minimally invasive: unlike conventional coronary angiography, CT coronary angiography does not require arterial puncture, catheter insertion, or catheterization of coronary blood vessels, reducing the risk of complications and expediting the diagnostic process.
- High precision: The high spatial and contrast resolution of CT devices allows for a detailed visualization of coronary arteries. Physicians obtain clear images that aid in characterizing wall changes and identifying stenosis of coronary arteries, enabling precise diagnosis.
- Rapid diagnosis: CT coronary angiography provides results almost instantly, facilitating the quick identification of patients in need of further cardiological evaluation, as well as those requiring urgent intervention.
- Reduced radiation exposure: advanced CT device technology reduces patient exposure to radiation, maintaining an optimal balance between diagnostic accuracy and patient safety.
How is CT coronary angiography performed?
CT coronary angiography is performed using specific CT devices that employ special algorithms to create images of the heart's arteries. The patient lies on the CT table and is connected to EKG electrodes, and the procedure itself takes only a few minutes. Contrast medium is used during the examination as it is the only way to visualize coronary arteries.
Coronary artery calcium score
Coronary artery calcium score is a non-invasive diagnostic technique that utilizes CT scanning to measure the amount of calcium present in the coronary arteries. Calcium often accumulates at sites where atherosclerotic plaques form. Atherosclerotic plaques can cause narrowing of arteries and lead to heart attacks. CT calcium scoring provides a quantitative assessment of these changes and allows experts to assess the overall risk of developing heart disease.
CT coronary angiography and coronary artery calcium score are complementary methods used in every coronary artery imaging. This examination is recommended for patients suspected of coronary artery disease: if there are doubts about the presence of cardiovascular disease, your physician may recommend CT coronary angiography to obtain a clear picture of your cardiovascular system's condition. Additionally, patients at increased risk of heart attack (individuals with elevated risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or smokers) may benefit from CT coronary angiography for early detection of issues.
CT Device of Unique Technology
Dual Source CT technology has been evolving for over 15 years. The goal is to transform the CT image of the heart by freezing rapidly moving structures of the heart and blood vessels.
The SOMATOM Pro.Pulse device with Dual Source technology provides exceptionally fast temporal resolution and short scan times required to reduce motion artifacts, limiting image disturbances caused by breathing or heart motion. The use of special tin filters maintains an extremely low radiation dose while preserving high image quality.
In recent years, there has been increased interest worldwide in the application of CT in combating cardiovascular heart diseases. This interest can partially be attributed to the decision of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) to recommend CT coronary angiography (CCTA) as the primary and largest non-invasive test for evaluating patients with stable and acute chest pain who have no history of coronary artery disease.
