Heart Artery Disease

• Introduction
• Chest pain
  • Angina
  • Other chest pain
• Heart attack (myocardial infarction)
  • Introduction
• Assessment of the heart arteries
  • Treadmill stress test
  • Stress echocardiogram
  • Stress nuclear studies
  • Angiogram- invasive
  • Angiogram- CT
• Treatment of heart artery disease
  • Medication
  • Stent treatment
  • Heart bypass surgery

Angiogram- CT

New technology involving special XR machines (CT scanners) now allows acquisition of angiogram pictures after injection of X-ray dye into a vein. The test does not have the risk of invasive angiography, where a tube is introduced into the large artery and pushed to the heart.

The CT angiogram test does involve exposure to radiation from X-rays.

At times the images acquired are not clear. Good images can be acquired if the heart beat is regular and slow. Medication to slow the heart is necessary prior to the test.

This test is a good alternative to invasive angiography, However, if there is a high chance of requiring stent treatment or heart bypass surgery then an invasive angiogram is recommended instead of a CT angiogram.