Technological Advances for Coronary Artery Disease

[Angel]

Cardiovascular disease is the leading killer among Americans and is commonly caused by coronary artery disease, where narrowing heart arteries make the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart difficult. A recent study revealed a noninvasive method may provide a means of providing more accurate diagnosis and treatment for coronary artery disease.

The new imaging technology combines into one mechanism the CT coronary angiography (CTCA) - which shows cardiac vessels - with SPECT imaging, which detects oddities in the blood flow of the vessels.

"This new modality (or technique) enables -- in a single imaging session -- accurate evaluation of cardiac blood vessel narrowing and blood supply to the muscles," according to Zohar Keidar, M.D., Ph.D., deputy director of the nuclear medicine department at Rambam HealthCare Campus in Haifa, Israel.

Josef Machac, M.D., Society of Nuclear Medicine's (SNM) Scientific Program Committee cardiovascular vice chair, says the technology has the capability to give a clearer view of the disease and its seriousness.

The results of the SPECT/CTCA method reveal the data is more exact compared to that of each test alone.

Keidar says more research needs to be done with a greater number of people, potentially with improvements to the technology under consideration.