Sacramento HeartScan Leads Fight Against Heart Attacks With Coronary Calcium Score

February 1, 2007 – 7:05 pm | posted in Cardiovascular, MRI / PET / Ultrasound

The coronary artery calcium (CAC) score is gaining ground in the fight against heart attacks. That’s according to Sacramento HeartScan, which offers the CT coronary calcium score for the early detection and prevention of heart disease.

The coronary calcium score is now covered by Medicare in many circumstances, and a recent consensus statement published in the January 2007 Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) should help patients and their doctors get a better picture of heart attack risk.

“Many patients are just too difficult to classify,” said Dr. Raye Bellinger of Sacramento HeartScan. “By adding in a CT heart scan to a patient’s risk assessment, we get an accurate picture of the overall amount of plaque build up and, if necessary, re-classify the patient into a higher risk category with more aggressive treatment to prevent heart attack or stroke.”

Estimates show that more than 10 million Americans are considered at intermediate risk of a heart attack, meaning they have some of the risk factors that can lead to heart attack, but may not have any symptoms that merit more aggressive therapy treatment.

Bellinger believes the CT heart scan plays an important role when trying to figure out a patient’s risk of heart attack. He also agrees with the newly published ACCF/AHA consensus statement on coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring issued recently by the American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF) and American Heart Association (AHA). Among other findings, the consensus document acknowledges the clinical value of using the calcium score in patients who have no symptoms but are considered at intermediate risk of a heart attack.

“We’ll look at the calcium score, and depending on a person’s age and gender, we can reasonably determine if a patient should stay at their current risk level or be moved into the high-risk range,” explained Bellinger. “We think the heart scan can give us better patient care through a more complete understanding of actual risk and by actually helping people lower heart attack risk.”

Bellinger said the information gleaned from these so-called “fast CT” scans could help in the fight against sudden cardiac death, which claims the lives of more than 250,000 people in the U.S. each year.

The ACCF/AHA consensus statement was developed in collaboration with the Society of Atherosclerosis Imaging and Prevention (SAIP) and the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT). The statement was also co-published in the January 2007 issue of Circulation.

Sacramento HeartScan now offers more imaging modalities than any other imaging facility in the region. CT scans at Sacramento HeartScan, including lung, heart and brain, are performed using the LightSpeed VCT 64-slice scanner, the only one of its kind in the area. Unlike more conventional four-slice scanners, the LightSpeed VCT 64-slice captures clear images of the heart between beats and also provides clear, more precise pictures of other organs and tissue.

About Sacramento HeartScan

Sacramento HeartScan is part of the Sacramento Heart Center, the area’s premier integrated cardiac facility, providing complete cardiology and wellness care plus a full range of diagnostic and laboratory services. Sacramento HeartScan is one of a limited number of cardiovascular centers in the United States using the LightSpeed VCT 64-slice scanner for detection of disease. Sacramento HeartScan recently purchased the 64-slice CT scanner, replacing the 16-slice CT scanner, which can uncover early stages of disorders such as: heart disease, lung disease and certain cancers. Sacramento Heart & Vascular Medical Associates, developers of the Sacramento Heart Center, is affiliated with most health care systems in Sacramento.

Sacramento HeartScan
Sacramento HeartScan