All About EBCT Heart Scan

Heart scanning is fast evolving from just a peek inside the heart into a critical tool preventing cardiac deaths worldwide

EBCT (Electron Beam Computerized Tomography) or CT Heart Scanning has been available in the United States for many years, enabling patients to take a proactive approach in assessing their individual risk of future cardiac events. A study published in the American Journal of Cardiology reinforced the great usefulness of heart scans. The number of patients requesting heart scans is increasing nationally at a great speed.

Who must consider a heart scan ?

The American Heart Association currently recommends EBCT as of great use for those in the “intermediate or moderate” cardiac risk category.

Who should not consider a heart scan?

Medical experts suggest that those with the following conditions should not self refer to a heart scan center since they are already under care or preventative programs:

• Patients who have already had a heart attack
• Patients who have a history of coronary artery bypass graft procedure
• Patients who have had angioplasty with or without stent placement
• Patients with a high risk of heart disease

Although these patients are not advised to self refer, a physician may utilize heart scanning to just supplement the patient care planning and assessment.

What is a heart scan?

• Heart scan is a rapid, non invasive CT scan. Using this, the patient and the physician can look for calcium deposits and blockages in the coronary arteries of the heart.
• The patient is provided with a “score” i.e. coronary calcium score at the end of the test which indicates the risk of coronary events within the next two years.
• The calcium this test scores is an element of plaque (along with fat and cholesterol) that fills up or narrows coronary arteries, leading to heart attack or stroke.

How to understand my coronary calcium score?

• 0 - No plaque has been found. Risk of a heart attack here is very low.
• 1 – 10 - A little amount of plaque is present. There is less than a 10% chance of getting heart disease. Risk of a heart attack is low.
• 11 – 100 - Plaque is present. There is mild heart disease and a little chance of a heart attack.
• 101 – 400 - A moderate amount of plaque is there. There is heart disease and the chance of a heart attack is moderate to high.
• Over 400 - A large amount of plaque has been found. There is more than a 90% chance that plaque is blocking one of the arteries. There is high chance of a heart attack. You need to be put on intensive treatment right away.

What are the risks of having a heart scan?

• Critics talk of false negative results in heart scanning, more so in younger populations. Also, a negative result may not detect soft plaques.
• Critics note that further invasive tests may be performed such as cardiac catherization and/or angioplasty after the heart scan.
• CT scanning increases radiation exposure which is indeed comparable to multiple chest x-rays.

What are the benefits of heart scan?

• Being aware of your risk.
• Dependent on the results, identifying the risk of cardiac event in the immediate future necessitates lifestyle changes and starts a proactive approach by both the patient and the physician towards targeted medical prevention and timely intervention.

In the past few months the Team at Heart-Scan has published and presented a wide range of cardiac research.  This research can be found on the Heart Scan website under the Publications tab.  The primary focus of the cardiac research at Heart Scan, has been on diabetes, nuclear cardiology and the dual source CT scanner.  The cardiac research carried out at Heart Scan is critical as the theoretical can be applied in the practical case and save lives.  This is an unique quality of the Heart-Scan centre that very few centres can duplicate.  It is actually a beautiful blend of latest research with the latest hands-on equipment leading to a better diagnosis and saving lives as a result.  The research at Heart Scan is presented throughout the world at International Conferences, the international conferences tab on the Heart Scan website has the latest schedule of the Heart Scan Team members' presentations.

With so many Scanner Centres throughout Great Britain it is becoming more and more confusing for the consumer to know which scan is most appropriate for their personal health.  At Heart-Scan, the decision is made easier by knowing that the latest equipment (Dual-Source CT and SPECT CT) is being utilized with the experience of Consulting Cardiologists.  A key difference with the Heart Scan centre is the fact that it is a full service scanning centre, so the focus is complete health care, versus scanning centres which only perform scans with Radiologists not Cardiologists.

 If you do not require a scan whether a heart scan or lung scan, Heart-Scan will tell you, unlike perhaps many other scanner centres – that’s the difference.  The latest equipment Dual Source CT Scanner and SPECT CT are used to perform heart scans or calcium scans, lung scans or lung screening, myocardial perfusion imaging, coronary angiography.

This section will also keep the latest updates of both Heart-Scan's Dr. Avijit Lahiri and Dr. David Lipkin, leading cardiologists in the UK. Updates of the latest services and latest equipment at Heart-Scan will also be provided. Whether you need the latest information on a heart scan or a lung scan, a clarification of a thallium scan or MPI scan, look no further as this is your resource for all heart-related information and research.

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The heart investigations are a simple non-invasive test used for early detection of heart disease. With early detection and modifying your risk factors, the potential for advanced heart disease may be significantly reduced and in some cases reversed. The heart investigations are a painless test that takes about 10 minutes. Heart investigations are used for the diagnosis of heart disease. Heart Scan provides powerful tool in the field of heart disease detection.