Cardiac Coronary C.T.

Coronary arteriosclerosis is the one of the major causes of death in the western world. It is critical to diagnose the sclerotic illness in its early stage and plan and initiate treatment, with the aim of preventing myocardial infarction ("heart attack").

Until quite recently, imaging of the cardiac coronaries was possible only by an invasive catheterization process. Lately, a new noninvasive coronary image procedure has been introduced. This procedure is based on Computerized Tomography (C.T.) scanning, which depicts the coronaries in a relatively reliable, high resolution image without resorting to invasive means. The procedure takes only a few minutes, and afterwards the patient can go home immediately and resume his daily routine.

The procedure is designated for patients with risk factors of coronary diseases (heavy smoking, family history of heart problems, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, obesity and lack of physical activity) for whom heart diseases cannot be excluded by other means, such as exercise stress testing and nuclear imaging.

This procedure is also suitable for follow up of patients who have undergone interventional procedures in cardiac catheterization (with or without stent implantation) or coronary artery bypass surgery.

A cardiologist can refer a patient for this procedure. It is available at the Hadassah Medical Center.

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