Non Invasive CT Angiogram of the Heart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coronary angiography is a vital, yet invasive, part of cardiology and the workup of heart patients. Angiography is necessary prior to angioplasty or cardiac surgery.  Non-invasive angiography might be used prudently. If normal coronaries, or insignificant disease, was confirmed non-invasively, then a small portion of traditional angiography could be withheld. Of course, this relies on a test that is at least 90% accurate to define obstructive disease.

Mahameru International Medical Centre is the pioneer in heart scanning in this region and has over 20 years of experience in performing this non-invasive CT angiogram. It has performed over 20,000 cases of CT Angiogram without any mortality or morbidity. The procedure is fast and painless. No hospital admission is required and the risk is minimal. 

CT angiogram performed by 128-slices CT scanner with a speed of 0.35 sec rotational speed is considered as  low radiation scanning as it is well below the permitted level.  The procedure is completed within 30 mins. A water-soluble dye (contrast- media) is injected through a vein in your arm just before the scan.   The dye is easily flushed out from your body by a drinking water after the scan. 

(The CT Angiogram is ideal not only for imaging the heart arteries but also the blood vessels in the neck and brain, and is also useful for evaluating the risk of stroke). 

Indications

• Non-invasive evaluation of graft patency post bypass surgery 
• Non-invasive evaluation of patency post angioplasty or stent 
• Non-invasive evaluation of patients with equivocal results following stress testing 
• Non-invasive evaluation of patients with positive calcium score or chest pains 
• Young patients who are at high risk of heart attack – to visualize non-calcified plaque.
• Positive calcium above normal amount for a specific age group and sex
• Evaluate heart (ventricular) wall function and ejection fraction
• Evaluate complex congenital cardiac anomalies
• Female patients with atypical symptoms and equivocal / positive stress test
• Evaluation of high risk patients who wants to avoid invasive angiography 
• Patients with greater than 2% absolute annual risk of heart attacks
• Annual follow-up of patients post cardiac transplantation 
• Follow-up patients with previous angiography to define certain lesion

This test is contraindicated in patients with renal dysfunction or severe dye allergy.