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Reprinted with permission, Courtesy, Asbury Park Press, a Gannett Co. newspaper.
BY MICHAEL AMSEL
STAFF WRITER
TOMS RIVER, New Jersey, February 20, 2007 – Physicians at Community Medical Center in Toms River are excited about a new CT scan technology that allows them to view the inner workings of the heart and help with early detection of heart disease.
The heart-scanning technology helps doctors spot trouble without surgery and is transformimg the way physicians diagnose and treat heart disease.
Dr. James Pasquariello, chief of cardiology at Community, called the technology the "next generation" in cardiology care. It has been in place since Dec. 1 and Community Medical Center is the only hospital in Ocean County to have it.
"It enables us to capture the clearest, most precise, three-dimensional images of the heart and coronary arteries in just five heartbeats," Pasquariello said. "With it, you visualize the walls of a patient's blood vessels, the sac surrounding the heart, the size of the heart chambers and the presence of aneurysms or tears."
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| Technician Christine Piccoli points out parts of a image produced by Community Medical Center's coronary CT angiography machine. |
With a history of heart disease in his family, Dr. Gerald Ferencz of Wall took a coronary CT angiography at Community Medical Center to see if there were any early signs of trouble.
"It was a very easy test, a screening test where they actually visualize your coronary arteries," said Ferencz, 53. "It took 15 minutes and the longest I had to hold my breath was 30 seconds, which is not excessive. It certainly was a much better option than having someone put a catheter up my groin and then manipulate dye."
For years, doctors have relied on finding the location of blockages in patient's coronary arteries through cardiac catheterization, in which a specialist inserts a probe through an incision in the groin.
The new technology uses a state-of-the-art 64-slice CT scanner, which creates a three-dimensional view of the heart and its blood vessels. The noninvasive exam is performed in the Radiology Department without the need for sedation or hospitalization.
Dr. Joseph Triolo, chairman of the Department of Radiology at Community Medical Center, said the screening test can examine the heart "between beats," creating almost-still images of the vessels.
"We now get four times the amount of information than previous CAT scans," Triolo said. "This study is best for intermediate risk patients without symptoms. People who have strong family history, high cholesterol, hypertension and maybe they smoke."
Each X-ray measurement lasts for just a fraction of a second and represents a "slice" of an organ or tissue. A computer then uses these slices to reconstruct highly detailed, three-dimensional images of the heart, other organs and blood vessels throughout the body.
"We can see how much the vessel has narrowed and what causes that," Triolo said. "We can identify the vulnerable plaques that can make you at risk for having a heart attack. Lots of people have plaques, but not all of them are vulnerable."
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