The 64 Slice CT Scan is a highly advanced device that has the ability to identify heart disease non-invasively. The scan provides physicians with three-dimensional views that have the ability to show narrowed areas of blood vessels and early disease in vessel walls that may not be narrowed. This CT scan also can identify narrowed brain arteries that put a patient at risk for a stroke and evaluate blood flow in other organs, such as the liver and kidneys.
Use of the 64 Slice CT Scan is most beneficial when doctors have significant concern about a patient’s risk for coronary artery disease that is not in need of catheterization. Images are not as clear in patients who are very large, who have an irregular heart rhythm or have large calcifications in their arteries.
This device is computer-driven and works by passing x-rays through the body. Each x-ray lasts a fraction of a second and represents a “slice” of an organ or tissue that it passed through. The computer then reconstructs the slices into highly detailed, 3-D images of the heart, other organs and blood vessels throughout the body. Most patients also are injected with a contrast solution prior to the procedure to enhance the visual detail of the images.
The process eliminates the patient’s risk and discomfort associated with traditional angiograms. Patients generally are only in the scan room for 10 to15 minutes and can leave as soon as the scan is complete. Physicians usually can obtain the results of the scan the same day.
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