Radiologist
Dr.BOOPATHY VIJAYARAGHAVAN,MD.,DMRD., Chief
Radiologist
Dr.J.GEETHANJALI,MBBS.,DMRD., Radiologist
Dr.P.THIRUNAVUKKARASU, MBBS.,DMRD.,DIH.,(DNB)
Radiologist
Why is it called Ultra-Fast CT?
A regular CT has a tube rotation
speed of 1 or 0.75 seconds. This CT has a
tube rotation speed of 370ms, which is approximately
3 rotations per second. This allows extremely
fast scans of the body, such that routine
chest and abdomen sequences can be completed
in 3.5 seconds. That is why it is called Ultra-Fast
CT.
How
does cardiac CT work?
With such a fast scanner, it
is possible to “freeze”
the heart. The new 64-slice scanner
obtains almost 194 slices per second.
After gating with the ECG, it is possible
to scan the heart in 10-12 seconds and
to extract information about the coronary
arteries and cardiac function from the
dataset. |
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What Preparation is involved?
Creatinine of less than 1.5 mg/dl.
Bete blocking so that heart rate is around
60 to 65 beats per minute.
Ejection Fraction of more than 45%.
Patients with no significant allergic reactions.
Fasting for about 6 hours.
What does the procedure involve?
Once the heart rate is stabilized.
A vein is cannulated.
Breathing instructions are given so that the
patient can hold/ his her breath for around
12 seconds.
A calcium scoring study is performed.
The “dye” is injected and the
angiogram time is 10 – 12 seconds. The
entire procedure takes between 15 to 60 minutes
depending on the heart rate.
What
are the various parts of the study?.
The following 2 parameters are studied.
Calcium scoring
Coronary artery assessment
Who
all can go for 64 Slice Cardiac CT Scan?
* Patients who have high blood pressure
of diabetes.
* For those with family history of cardiac
disease
* Chain smokers
* People who are of over weight
* People who cannot go for Tread Mill
Test of Inconclusive
Tread Mill Test
* People who have undergone Bypass surgery
and * Angioplasty and who want to
know the condition of their
blood vessels.
* Coronary Calcium Scoring to detect the
calcium burden in Coronary
arteries. |
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When is it difficult to perform a
cardiac CT?
In patients with
Ectopic beats and an irregular rhythm
Those who can’t hold their breath for
at least 10 – 12 seconds.
Are there any dangers of CT scanning?
Though X-rays involve radiation, there are
no dangers, in practice. In women who are
pregnant, however, CT scanning should be done
after weighing all the risks and benefits.
What is the injection that I will
receive?
The majority of patients will be injected
with a “dye” which enhances the
ability of CT scans to pick up abnormalities.
This is routine. Only a non-ionic dye (the
safest) is used.
Are there any complications of the
“DYE”?
0.5% percent of patients may get nausea and
redness of the skin. Though severe reactions
are known, these are very rare and uncommon.
Are
there other instructions?
Please get all old X-rays, sonography,
CT and MR films along with other papers,
operative notes, discharge cards, etc
relevant to the case. There should preferably
be an accompanying relative friend. |
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• Please inform the doctor, nurse
or the receptionist, if you are at high risk
for “dye” injection, as described
above, i.e., if you have a history of drug
reactions bronchial asthma, cardiac or kidney
disease, etc.
• Please inform the doctor, nurse of
the receptionist if your are pregnant of think
you may be pregnant.
Cardiac CT for coronary arteries
is essentially a screening tool.
The negative predictive value is greater
than 95%. That means that when the study is
normal, it is almost definite that there will
be no coronary artery disease.
In an abnormal study, coronary CT sometimes
has a tendency to overestimate or underestimate
stenoses and lesions, especially when there
is calcium as well as in vessels less than
1.5 mm in size.
Soft plaques are not seen on conventional
coronary angiography and are best visualized
on coronary CT.
How is Coronary CTS different form
other heart tests?
One of the most common heart test is the coronary
angiogram , or cardiac catheterization. This
test is more invasive and requires more patients
recovery time than Coronary CTA. Patients
who receive coronary Angiograms must have
a catheter, or small transport tube, threaded
into their coronary arteries, which run along
the outside of the heart. The catheter typically
is inserted into a blood vessel in the upper
thigh and then maneuvered upto the coronary
arteries. The catheter then is used to inject
the iodine dye needed for the test, which
uses X-ray to record “movies”
of the coronary arteries.
Hi-tech Facilities
• Computerized X-ray unit 1000mA
• Cath Lab with Digital Substruction
Angiogram with CD ROM
• Whole Body computerized Tommograophy
Helical Scan (C.T.Scan)
• 0.2 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Device
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OPEN MRI
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• Ultrasound Scan
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ULTRA
SOUND UNIT
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• Mammogram
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