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Biotech / Medical : IMAT - ultrafast tomography for coronary artery disease -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: robert scheb who wrote (2683)	9/1/1998 11:15:00 PM
From: art slott	Respond to of 3725

From Rueters. Great story. New CT scan can gauge extent of heart disease 6:26 p.m. ET (2227 GMT) September 1, 1998 NEW YORK, Sep 01 - A special computed tomography (CT) scan can accurately detect and gauge the extent of heart disease, according to a study in the current issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The scan - an electron beam CT scan - can assess the extent of heart disease far more accurately than blood pressure, blood cholesterol tests, or other indicators of heart disease ''risk factors,'' according to the authors of the study. Although the scan is as accurate as angiography - a highly accurate imaging study commonly used to measure the extent of heart disease - it is less expensive and less risky, according to lead author, Dr. Alan Guerci, of St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, New York. "(Angiography) is an invasive test, so there's a greater risk of complications,'' than with the noninvasive electron beam CT scan, Guerci told Reuters Health in an interview. Angiography involves the injection of a dye to outline blood vessels. To test the accuracy of the scan and compare its diagnostic value with that of various heart disease "risk factor'' assessments, Guerci and colleagues studied a group of 290 patients who were scheduled to undergo angiography. In addition to angiography, the patients underwent electron beam CT scanning and the standard blood tests physicians rely on to assess their patients' heart disease risk factors. They also answered standard questions used to assess heart risk, such as ''Do you smoke?'' and "Does heart disease run in your family?'' Guerci and colleagues used the CT scan results to assess the extent of heart disease in each patient. They then used information about the patient's risk factors to come up with a second, independent assessment of the extent of heart disease in each patient. The researchers then compared the two separate assessments with the information provided by the angiography. The CT scan results essentially matched those of the angiography, suggesting that the CT scan is highly accurate. But the risk factors did not provide as accurate an assessment of the extent of heart disease as the CT scan, the researchers found. Because the CT scan can accurately gauge the extent of heart disease, it should be helpful in determining whether patients have disease that is advanced enough to warrant taking medications, Guerci said. "This should be helpful for people whose doctors say, 'Your cholesterol is a little high,' or 'Your blood pressure is a little high,''' he explained. "The really attractive feature of this test is its potential as a screening test for the early detection of coronary disease in people who have no symptoms,'' Guerci added. The investigators are now in the midst of further research to determine if the test can accurately predict whether a person with no heart disease symptoms is at risk of a heart attack or other "coronary event.'' The electron beam scanner measures the accumulation of calcium in the arteries feeding the heart. For reasons that are not clear, the plaque that accumulates in the arteries of people with heart disease calcifies. By measuring calcium build-up in the arteries, clinicians can determine the extent of plaque build-up, and heart disease. While angiography costs roughly $4,000, an electron beam scan costs closer to $400, according to Guerci. Electron beam CT scanners, which first started making their way into hospitals in the early 1990s, are in a few, but not all big city hospitals. According to Guerci, conventional CT scans cannot accurately measure calcium build-up. SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Cardiology 1998;32. comments@foxnews.com c 1998, News America Digital Publishing, Inc. d/b/a Fox News Online. All rights reserved. Fox News is a registered trademark of 20th Century Fox Film Corp. c Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved