Coronary CT Angiography

The Coronary CT Angiography (CCTA) procedure is a medical test your doctor can order for you to help determine if your heart and surrounding blood vessels are at risk of becoming blocked by plaque (cholesterol) build up. If untreated, the plaque can decrease the blood flow to the heart muscle which can in turn lead to heart disease.

Cardiac CT is used to evaluate:
    The heart muscle
    The coronary arteries
    The pulmonary veins
    The thoracic and abdominal aorta and
    The sac around the heart (pericardium)

This new technology has the ability to rule out significant narrowing of the major coronary arteries non-invasively and to detect “soft plaque” in the walls that has not hardened but may lead to future problems.

Coronary CT Angiography is a non-invasive technique that allows clear visualization of narrowed and clogged arteries that can cause heart attack and stroke. Coronary CCTA is not appropriate for everyone, and a referral from your physician is required for the scan.

Patients who should have this exam must have a risk factor for heart disease which includes:

Smoker or Former Smoker
Diabetes
High Blood Pressure
Post Menopausal
Sedentary Lifestyle
Family History of Heart Disease
Known Heart Disease
Known Vascular Disease

OR
Atypical chest pain
Evaluation of bypass grafts and stents

 

Our 64 Slice LightSpeed CT unit in our Warren Imaging Center, provides non-invasive solutions to evaluate the morphology and function of the heart and coronary arteries. We employ a fully integrated post-processing and analytic tool developed especially for cardiovascular CT applications.

One-touch 3D Volume Rendered Heart

heartOur Analysis software automatically isolates the heart (removes surrounding structures), and creates a three-dimensional view.

It includes protocols, optimized for the visualization different structures:

  • Coronary Arteries
  • Calcified plaque
  • Heart Chambers
  • Bypass grafts
  • Stents

 

Coronary Vessel Analysis

  • Prospective Gating dramatically reduces radiation
  • Auto vessel tracking by depositing a single seed in distal vessel
  • Vessels displayed in curved reformat, oblique and lumen view
  • Automatic centerline detection providing a visual understanding of a vessel
  • Measurements of vessel diameter and area
  • Stenosis sizing
  • Fully integrated clinical report

Coronary vessel tree

 

Coronary Vessel Tree

  • Single seed deposit
  • Automatic extraction of heart chambers and surrounding structures
  • Volume rendered or MIP projection.

 

 

 

Single & Multi-phase Reformat

  • Reformation in the coronal or sagittal plane
  • Protocol driven short and long axis reconstruction
  • Easy review of systole & diastole images

 

Call our CTA Coordinator to find out if Coronary CT Angiography can help you.

732-968-5159