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Coronary Patients Benefit From Heart Disease X-Ray

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Feb 20, 2009 3:47 pm US/Central

Coronary Patients Benefit From Heart Disease X-Ray

  When it comes to matters of the heart, diet and exercise are generally the best medicine.  But for some patients a quick x-ray is helping prevent more serious cardio troubles down the road.

The procedure is like a normal x-ray, with the patient lying on a bed and a computer taking multiple pictures of the heart.  "We wanted to know if she [the patient] is showing any signs of early buildup of cholesterol plaque in the coronary arteries," explained cardiologist Deepika Gopal, with The Dallas Heart Group.

Doctors use to x-ray to look for calcium deposits.  Looking at the x-ray, Dr. Gopal pointed to distinct areas. "This is the aorta and this is the coronary artery and the pink stuff here is the calcium buildup."

The buildup is a pretty good sign coronary artery disease is also present.

The amount of calcium found in the arteries added to determine a patient's "score".  Zero means there is no identifiable disease, 1 to 99=mild disease, 100 to 399=moderate disease and 400 or higher=severe disease.

The test is recommended for people who are at increased risk of heart disease.  Patient Kym Sosolik said her x-ray was a wakeup call.  "It was one of those warning signs that says do something now or you're going to end up in very serious trouble."

Before the x-ray test was available, doctors had to make 'educated guesses' on the presence of heart disease.  Now, says Dr. Gopal, the test makes things better for doctors and patients.  "It's super quick, a very fast scan, and minimal radiation and gives us a tremendous amount of information about the patient."

The scan takes less than five minutes and is generally recommended for patients 45-75 years old.  The $99 dollar test is not covered by insurance.

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