The future …is already here in Punjab Ct Angio – an eye into the heart

A blockage of our heart arteries by cholesterol can cause a potentially fatal heart attack. A computerized tomography (CT) coronary angiogram is an imaging test that looks at the arteries that supply blood to your heart. A CT coronary angiogram uses a powerful X-ray machine to produce images of your heart and its blood vessels. The procedure is noninvasive and does not need admission and takes only a few minutes. 

CT coronary angiograms are used to diagnose a variety of heart conditions.

A coronary CT angiogram is different from a standard coronary angiogram. In the traditional procedure (non-CT angiogram), a flexible tube (catheter) is threaded through your groin or arm to your heart. Since coronary artery disease often develops over decades, it can go virtually unnoticed until produces a heart attack. There is only one way to pick Coronary Artery Disease in its early stages,, that too non-invasively and that is by a CT angiogram .

WHO SHOULD BENEFIT FROM CT ANGIOGRAM?

PATIENTS WITH THESE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

-       Pressure, fullness or a squeezing pain in the centre of your chest that lasts for more than  a few minutes, Pain extending beyond your chest to your shoulder, arm, back, or even to your teeth and jaw

-       Increasing episodes of chest pain

-       Prolonged pain in the upper abdomen

-       Shortness of breath

-       Sweating

-       Inconclusive Stress Test (TMT)

-       Vague chest pain or discomfort

 

PATIENTS WITH RISK FACTORS

- Tobacco smoking

- High blood pressure

- High blood Cholesterol or Triglyceride levels

- Obesity 

- Diabetes  

- Stress and Lack of physical activity

- Alcohol intake

 -Family history of heart attack

- Follow up cases of bypass surgery or stenting

 

The latest machine – the CT REVOLUTION EVO GE Healthcare machine which is now 128 Slice and has the capability of doing CT Scan at 82 % reduced Radiation dose – is now available for the first time in the region at DELTA HEART CENTRE in Ludhiana .

 

It is a matter of great pride for India that a landmark study was performed in Punjab where a CT angiogram was compared in great detail to a conventional angiogram. An excellent correlation was found ….and in fact some great advantages were noted for a CT angiogram. This study was conducted by Dr HS Bedi, Dr JS Gill and Dr SS Bakshi. It was a first of its kind research  and Dr Bedi was invited to present it at the 21st Annual Meeting of the European Association for Cardio Thoracic Surgery in Geneva in September 2007 where is was well appreciated by all super specialists . It was also published in the prestigious European Journal of Cardio Thoracic Surgery in 2008. This research article is widely quoted in the world literature.

 

CT angiogram is an invaluable tool which gives an opportunity to diagnose heart disease at an early stage so that preventive measures can be taken to reverse heart disease.