62-year old Howard Fuhr was taken by surprise when he went to see his heart specialist. “I had an abnormal –um—stress test and um the next thing that my cardiologist suggested was having an angiogram and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to go that step,” says Howard.
So, he looked for the most cutting-edge technology he could find… What'’s known as the “64-slice CT scanner. “I sought it out and I consulted with my cardiologist and we both agreed that this would be the way to go at this time,” states Howard.

The 64-slice CT scanner is the next-generation CT scanner. The number refers to its speed, almost like the shutter speed of a camera. It can grab pictures of the cardiovascular system in motion, and in approximately 10-seconds can give a technician a birds-eye view of what’s happening inside.

62-year old Howard Fuhr was taken by surprise when he went to see his heart specialist. "“I had an abnormal stress test and the next thing my cardiologist suggested was that I have an angiogram, but I wasn'’t sure if I was ready to take that step" says Howard.

So, he looked for the most cutting-edge technology he could find - the “64-slice CT scanner. "“I sought it out and I consulted with my cardiologist and we both agreed that this would be the way to go at this time",” he adds.

Dr. Jill Jacobs, a radiologist at New York University Medical Center says, “It'’s very, very fast. So, because of its speed and it’s better resolution, it allows us to see such small structures like the coronary arteries.” With older CT scans, doctors could see only part of the coronary artery. Now they can see the entire thing. “We can see soft plaque, which in the past was difficult to see by any other test that was non-invasive,"” adds Dr. Jacobs.

Typically doctors perform a cardiac catheterization –or the threading of a catheter through the groin and into the vessels - to see exactly how much narrowing or blockage there is. It is a common procedure, but not without risk. “There was a chance there could be damage to the blood vessels and the other possible complications such as bleeding or stroke,” states Dr. Jacobs.

This CT scan is non-invasive, and can double as a screening tool. Dr. Jacobs says, “It’'s a very good test for excluding cardiac disease. That’'s why it’'s so good for people that have high cholesterol or family histories. People who are very nervous that they may have cardiac disease.”

"The results can be pretty definitive. “If the study is absolutely normal, we can say with a certainty of about 97-98% that there is no coronary artery disease,"” says Dr. Jacobs.
If the reverse is true and the test shows a blockage – doctors may then send the patient for a catheterization to see it first-hand.

It’s important to note that the 64-slice CT scanner is not likely to replace the gold standard, cardiac catheterization. It is simply another tool doctors can use to diagnose disease. And it’s less-invasive, which is attractive to most patients.

Howard'’s scan showed calcification —but was inconclusive. He may seek a catheterization anyway.

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