Conventional angiography has been the diagnostic standard for determining heart disease (coronary artery disease). Over a million conventional angiographies are performed in the United States each year and approximately 60% of these procedures reveal no abnormality or an abnormality that does not require surgery. While effective, angiograms are invasive, labor intensive and costly. Hundreds of thousands of Americans unnecessarily have conventional angiograms. These limitations have led to the need for a less invasive and less expensive test.
For many doctors and patients, the non-invasive CT angiogram procedure provides the opportunity to rule out the need for a conventional angiogram. It is non-invasive and does not have the same risks and complications such as heart attack, stroke, and bleeding that can sometimes occur with a conventional angiogram. Since this test is less invasive, the patient can resume their normal activities immediately following the test. The non-invasive CT angiogram procedure has proven to be a breakthrough in technology for the diagnosis of heart disease. The procedure is safe, fast, quick (10 minutes), and is non-invasive.
