Pictured here are clinical images of the heart using the Toshiba 64-slice CT scanner.

"When it comes to your health, getting a second opinion is a good idea. The same holds true for a cardiologist diagnosing heart disease," says Ofsman Quintana, MD, FACC, FSCAI, a board-certified cardiologist at McAllen Heart Hospital.

While the advent of computed tomography (CT) in the last five years revolutionized cardiology, enabling physicians to diagnose many forms of heart disease without performing traditional invasive diagnostic tests, it has also created challenges for them.

"Learning to read and interpret cardiac CT data takes time -- time we don't necessarily have," Dr. Quintana says. "So, we're turning to experts in the field of cardiac radiology to review and interpret our patients' CT scans."

Physician partnership
"Verifying results with outside physicians helps decrease the likelihood of false interpretations and increase the chance that our patients will get the most accurate diagnoses," says Juan Diego Posada, MD, FACC, a board-certified cardiologist at McAllen Heart Hospital.

Currently, health system cardiologists are relying on the analytical skills of husband-and-wife team Umesh Arora, MD, FACC, FSCAI, previously an assistant professor of cardiology at University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, and Meeney Dhir, MD, FACC, FASE, now with Sonterra Cardiovascular Institute in San Antonio.

"It's a great partnership we have with South Texas Health System," says Dr. Dhir. "We receive images through an Internet connection and are able to review, analyze and report back on the data within 24 hours. Cardiologists get the peace of mind they need to make a diagnosis."

Cardiac CT imaging
More cardiologists are relying on cardiac CT data instead of traditional diagnostic tests because it offers just as much information in a shorter time period and with less effort by patients, says Dr. Dhir.

"It takes just one breath hold -- six seconds -- for the CT scanner to pass over a patient's body and get detailed, high-resolution chest images," she says.

At McAllen Heart Hospital, a 64-slice CT scanner produces 64, 0.5 mm-thick X-ray images per second. Cardiologists obtain a real-time view of the:

• Heart muscle and its chambers
• Coronary arteries, plaque build-up
• Defective heart valves
• Heart pumping function (ejection fraction)
• Noncardiac structures in the chest (such as lungs)

"From this data, we are able to diagnose a range of diseases -- everything from coronary artery disease, past heart attacks and tumors to heart defects or other abnormalities in the heart's structure," says Dr. Dhir.

For more information about diagnosing heart disease or for a referral to a cardiologist, call Direct Doctors^SM Plus at 1-800-879-1033.

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