CAUTION - ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:00 P.M., TUESDAY,
SEPTEMBER 3/
ADVANCE/ LONG ISLAND, N.Y., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at
New
York's St. Francis Hospital praise the American Heart Association's (AHA)
Scientific Statement (CIRCULATION, 9/l/96) recognizing the predictive value
of electron beam C-T (EBCT) scans in identifying individuals at risk for
coronary artery disease. The AHA statement concurs with the findings of the
hospital's researchers: the higher the calcium score in patients with no
symptoms of heart disease, the greater the likelihood of later cardiovascular
events.
According to the Executive Summary of the AHA statement: "Based on the
available evidence, a 'negative' EBCT coronary calcium study, when no calcium
is detected, does not absolutely rule out the presence of atherosclerotic
plaque, including unstable plaque, but does imply a very low likelihood of
significant luminal obstruction. The majority of patients who have had
angiographically normal coronary arteries have negative EBCT scans and have a
low risk of a cardiovascular event within the next 2 to 5 years....On the
other hand, a 'positive' scan, that is, one with some calcium detected in at
least one vessel, confirms the presence of atherosclerotic plaque. The
greater the amount of calcification, the greater the likelihood of
obstructive disease.... A high calcium score may be consistent with a
moderate to high risk of a cardiovascular event within the next 2 to 5
years."
Dr. Alan Guerci, director of research at St. Francis, says, "This statement
reaffirms what our research reveals: the EBCT scan, and the coronary calcium
score it yields can identify those with a high likelihood of heart problems,
and allow physicians to intervene in an attempt to lower the risk." As the
AHA Executive Summary clearly states: "Only EBCT can quantitate [sic] the
amount or volume of calcium."
A study from St. Francis published in CIRCULATION (June 1, 1996) of
follow-up
data on 1,173 asymptomatic patients scanned between September 1993 and
March
1994 found coronary calcium scores directly related to adverse incidents: the
higher the calcium score, the greater the likelihood of cardiovascular
events.
"The most striking aspect of our investigations is the short-term predictive
power of electron beam C-T scanning," says Dr. Guerci. "The accuracy of
electron beam C-T scanning is substantially greater than anything ever
achieved with traditional risk factor assessment based on cholesterol levels
or non-lipid risk factors."
The AHA Executive Summary explicitly details the advantage of EBCT scans as
screening tests over the established technology in the early detection of
coronary artery disease: "calcification may frequently be seen in the absence
of significant angiographic narrowing and before there has been sufficient
plaque build-up to narrow the vessel to the extent that ischemia would be
apparent on stress electrocardiograms or stress thallium determinations."
EBCT has additional advantages as well: "Electron beam C-T scanning is a
faster, less expensive alternative to thallium stress testing," says Dr.
Guerci. "In our efforts to assess persons with significant narrowings of the
coronary arteries, an electron beam C-T scan provides comparable information
at one-third the cost. Electron beam C-T scanning takes five or six minutes;
thallium stress testing four to five hours."
Electron beam C-T scanning has proven itself to be a useful tool in the
assessment of coronary artery disease. Yet, as the AHA states, "there is no
role at present for application of the test to screen populations of young (<
40 years of age), healthy individuals with no risk factors." St. Francis
guidelines only recommend EBCT screening for asymptomatic men over 40 and
post-menopausal women, unless subjects have a multitude of risk factors or
one very severe risk factor (e.g., father and paternal uncle died of heart
attacks before age 40.)
As with most new medical procedures, further study is necessary. The St.
Francis research team continues to investigate the application of the EBCT to
the prevention of coronary disease. Study results will be released when
available.
St. Francis is a 247-bed not-for-profit cardiac specialty hospital located on
Long Island's north shore, with comprehensive programs in the prevention,
diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. The hospital has the largest
cardiac caseload in the Northeast, the second largest in the U.S. and the
lowest mortality rate for open heart surgery in New York State.
SOURCE St. Francis Hospital
CO: St. Francis Hospital
ST: New York
IN: HEA
SU:
08/28/96 10:01 EDT prnewswire.com |
