NAPERVILLE, Ill., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association could help make heart scans a standard tool in determining the condition of the heart for people of moderate risk. Local cardiologists who have come to trust the heart scan as a reliable indicator of early stage heart disease, welcomed the new study.
Dr. Stanley Clark, director of electron beam tomography at Edward Heart Hospital and a member of Midwest Heart Specialists, noted the findings of the study were significant particularly because it found the CT scan to be most effective at predicting heart disease for moderate risk patients.
"Making decisions on how to treat a patient who is not at high risk, but who's not necessarily at low risk, can be difficult," Clark stated. "In fact, an estimated 20 to 30 million people at risk for developing coronary heart disease are not getting proper treatment. With the CT scan, doctors might be able to make faster, more aggressive treatment decisions, which can include medication or just lifestyle changes."
Researchers found that CT scans are most effective for people over 45, as those younger are typically at a lower risk. People who have one of the following risk factors fall into the category of moderate risk: over age 45, smoking, family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, high total cholesterol and triglyceride levels with low HDL "good" cholesterol and obesity.
Craig Patterson, a patient at Edward Heart Hospital who fell into the moderate risk category only because of his age, was shocked to learn his heart scan revealed extensive coronary blockage, even after all other lipid and stress tests came back normal. Doctors promptly performed triple bypass surgery on Patterson.
"I considered myself to be in really good health," Patterson said. "I ate a healthy diet, watched my weight, didn't smoke, ran more than 20 miles a week and lifted weights on a regular basis. Words can't express how happy I am that I had a heart scan. My doctors told me if I had waited any longer I would have probably suffered from a life-threatening heart attack within two years."
Edward Heart Hospital was the first to offer Ultra Fast Heart Scan in DuPage County in 1998. Since then, more than 8,000 men and women have been screened at the facility. The technology behind the heart scan at Edward, electron beam tomography, has been around for years, but it has been a much debated issue in the cardiac profession.
Heart scans at Edward are interpreted by cardiologists from Midwest Heart Specialists, the Midwest's leading cardiology practice, and patients get same day results.
While health insurers typically don't cover the cost of a CT scan, some plans do. If widely accepted, this new research may sway health insurers to cover the test if prescribed by a doctor, and make the test available to more people who can benefit from it.
The JAMA study was performed by researchers at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Southern California.
For more information on CT scans or to schedule an appointment at Edward Hospital, please call 1-877-45-HEART.
Edward Hospital & Health Services is a full service, regional healthcare provider with more than 3,500 employees serving residents of the western suburbs of Chicago including Naperville, Bolingbrook, Plainfield, Lisle, Woodridge, Aurora/Fox Valley, Romeoville and Warrenville. Edward has earned a reputation as a leader in complex medical specialties and innovative programming including revolutionary imaging technology; care for the most critically ill newborns, minimally invasive surgery, the latest mind and body classes, beating heart surgery, in vitro fertilization, and access to the latest clinical trials for cancer and heart disease. Caring for patients at Edward are more than 800 physicians, which include independent members of the medical staff, employed physicians and independent contractors.
Edward Hospital & Health ServicesCONTACT: Bridget McManamon of Edward Hospital & Health Services,+1-630-527-3929 (Please do not publish this number)
Web site: http://www.edward.org/