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Coronary artery disease — the most common type of heart disease — is the leading cause of death in the United States in both men and women, a sobering statistic made all the more frightening by the fact that the most alarming warning sign of a heart problem is having no symptoms at all.
“That doesn’t mean you should sit back and wait for them to happen,” says James Pasquariello, M.D., chief of cardiology at Community Medical Center. “The good news is that at Community Medical Center, a revolutionary new diagnostic imaging system is enabling doctors to detect, and in some cases
even predict, serious medical conditions such as coronary artery disease (CAD) before symptoms occur.”
Community is the first hospital in Monmouth and Ocean counties to offer the highly effective cardiovascular disease-screening tool of coronary CT angiography (CCTA). With the potential to transform the way doctors are able to diagnose and treat heart disease and other life-threatening medical conditions, CCTA is performed with the hospital’s new volume-computed tomography 64-slice system that non-invasively captures images of the heart and coronary arteries in fewer than five heartbeats, something no other CT system can offer.
“Coronary artery disease occurs when the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle become hardened and narrowed due to the buildup of a plaque on their inner walls,” Dr. Pasquariello explains. “As the plaque increases in size, the insides of the coronary arteries get narrower and less blood can flow through them.
Eventually, blood flow to the heart muscle is reduced, and, because blood carries much-needed oxygen, the heart muscle is not able to receive the amount of oxygen it needs.”
By detecting calcium deposits in the artery walls, coronary CTTA can detect the presence of blockages in coronary arteries that may not yet be severe enough to show up on other tests, including electrocardiograms (EKG), heart scans and cardiac catheterizations, according to Dr. Pasquariello.
“This diagnostic procedure detects not only calcified plaque, but also non-calcified plaque — which is more likely to cause heart attacks and sudden death,” he says. “When detected early, chances are good that the progression of the disease can be halted or even reversed and heart attacks or strokes can be prevented.
“With this new system, we are able to capture images of the whole heart and coronary arteries in just five heartbeats — providing clearer images of cardiovascular anatomy and a shorter breath hold, which is particularly important for acute or chronically ill and elderly patients,” he adds.
Pointing to the three primary causes of mortality in patients with chest pain — aortic dissection, pulmonary embolism and coronary artery disease — Dr. Pasquariello notes that Community now has a tool to help physicians rule out or
diagnose these three individual causes of patient’s chest pain through a single quick scan.
To produce a CT image, computer-driven machinery passes X-rays through the body, producing digitized signals that are detected and reconstructed, explains Joseph Triolo, M.D., chairman of Radiology at Community Medical Center.
During the pain-free procedure that takes only seconds to perform, the rhythm of the heartbeat triggers the system to take image upon image of the heart in rapid sequence. These multiple “slices” then are reconstructed, displayed and recorded in an intricate, detailed 3-D view that is so detailed the calcified plaque in the coronary arteries can be measured.
“This multislice technology has been particularly exciting for studying the beating heart, providing the first clear non-invasive images of the heart and its major vessels,” Dr. Triolo says. “The scans can be timed to use only images gathered between breaths, so that the heart and its vessels can be seen without the blurring caused by motion.”
“This test is one of the most-effective ways we have today to protect against heart disease,” he adds.
“And for many patients, it’s the first step in keeping a close check on the condition and making heart-healthy lifestyle changes.”
For more information about the LightSpeed VCT and other advanced diagnostic imaging services available at Community Medical Center, call 1.888.SBHS.123.
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