Cardiac tomography / Coronary CT angiography is a tomographic imaging method using contrast material, which is used as a guide in the evaluation of anatomical disorders of the heart, especially related to coronary arteries, heart membrane diseases, valve and prosthetic valve diseases and treatment planning of many heart diseases.
WHAT ARE THE DISTINCTIVE FEATURES/ADVANTAGES OF CARDIAC TOMOGRAPHY/CORONARY BT ANGIOGRAPHY?
With the 2x64 section CT device, the heart vessels can be visualised without any preliminary preparation, without a catheter and in just one breath holding time. Coronary CT angiography is a groundbreaking new diagnostic method in the field of imaging, as it can be performed more easily and faster than classical angiography and can be performed bloodlessly and painlessly. It eliminates the necessity of hospitalisation. The patient continues his/her normal daily life after the procedure. Thanks to this system, coronary angiography of people with risk factors can be performed easily. Thanks to coronary CT angiography, coronary artery disease of many patients is detected and treated at an early stage. When coronary CT angiography is performed successfully, an image that provides a high level of information almost like angiography can be obtained. In fact, while only the inside of the patient's vessels can be seen in invasive catheter angiography, the vessel wall of the patient can also be seen in coronary CT angiography. Thus, the structure of plaques in the vessels can be analysed. Although it takes only 5-6 minutes, it takes as little as 40 minutes in total, including stages such as informing the patient, opening the vascular access, giving the necessary medication and performing the procedure.
The advantages of coronary CT angiography are listed as follows:
1. Image quality is very high.
2. It is frequently preferred in coronary artery disease because it provides high resolution10 images. It also provides advanced information on anatomy and vascular connections in complicated and simple congenital heart diseases.
3. It does not cause discomfort to the patients since a short time such as 5-7 minutes is sufficient for the shooting and there is no noise problem as in MRI.
4. There is no pain during and after the procedure.
5. It can be safely applied in patients who have undergone stenting or bypass surgery or in patients with unknown previous coronary artery disease. Detailed information about coronary anatomy and stenosis levels can be obtained.
WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE OF HEART TOMOGRAPHY/CORONARY CT ANGIOGRAPHY?
After the patient is informed about the procedure, he/she is asked to fill in a consent form. Then, if the patient does not have a recent creatinine value measurement, blood is taken from the patient on the day of the procedure and the creatinine value is checked. creatinine value is important because contrast material will be administered during the procedure.
The patient's vascular access is opened and the patient is placed on the stretcher inside the tomography device. If necessary, drugs are administered intravenously to adjust the heart rate. Breathing commands are explained to the patient. Because if the patient does not breathe properly and the image cannot be stabilised, situations that reduce the quality of the shot called ‘artefact’ may occur. In such a case, the procedure is no longer valid because the coronary artery structures are very thin structures and a defect in the image may mislead the doctor. For this reason, breathing commands are practised in advance and it is checked how much the heart rate decreases with breath holding. In addition, depending on the contrast material administered, the patient may have a feeling of warmth in the body, urinary incontinence, metallic taste in the mouth. The patient is informed about these in advance so that he/she does not panic during the procedure and his/her heart rate does not increase. If the patient knows these in advance, there is usually no problem. Since the cardiac tomography process is very short, it is not a problem even for patients with claustrophobia.
Another important issue in tomography is the patient's heart rate. It is desired that the heart rate should be around 60 thanks to the medications used before the procedure or the medications given intravenously that day. Otherwise, situations that impair the image quality called artefacts may be encountered.
In addition to all these, the medications taken by the patient before the procedure should be questioned in detail. In particular, it should be known whether the patient has used some drugs that increase sexual power before the procedure. If the patient has a recent history of using this group of drugs, it is decided by the doctor whether the procedure will be performed or not. Because if these drugs and the sublingual spray to be given to the patient during the procedure are used simultaneously, blood pressure can drop significantly. This may pose a life risk. For this reason, it is very important that patients who use sexual enhancement drugs provide information beforehand.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT CARDIAC TOMOGRAPHY
WHAT ARE THE DISADVANTAGES OF CARDIAC TOMOGRAPHY/CORONARY CT ANGIOGRAPHY?
There are 2 important points to be considered in relation to this issue. Cardiac tomography involves radiation, and contrast media can be dangerous in the group of patients with renal insufficiency.
In our center, techniques are applied to ensure that the minimum level of radiation that may be received by our patients according to the body surface area, body structure and the degree of calcification in their checkers. The amount of contrast media is also kept to a minimum by taking into account the characteristics of the patient.
Which patients should cardiac tomography/Coronary CT angiography not be applied to?
Since contrast media is used in the procedure, in patients with chronic kidney failure, the procedure should definitely be decided by a preliminary evaluation by the patient's physician and nephrology. Coronary CT angiography will also not give optimal results in patients with small-diameter stents. For cancer patients who prefer not to receive radiation, if a tomography is required, the shooting is performed by being cautious about taking the minimum radiation dose. Apart from this, the procedure can be applied to all patients.
What are the things to be considered after cardiac tomography/Coronary CT angiography?
A patient with kidney-related problems may need to be given fluids for some time before and after the procedure. After the procedure, patients who have not been diagnosed with heart failure are definitely asked to drink 2-2.5 liters of water. This application allows the contrast agent to be easily removed from the body. After the procedure is completed, patients should not stand up suddenly. First, they are allowed to sit for a while, pulse and blood pressure are checked. The patient is kept under follow-up for necessary intervention in cases such as dizziness, low blood pressure. Then the reporting process can take 1-2 days.
Is it possible to stay with pregnant or young children after a heart CT scan?
Since cardiac tomography does not contain a radioactive substance, as in the procedures performed in Nuclear Medicine, there is no need to pay attention to anything after the procedure.
Is there any pain during the heart tomography procedure?
No, no pain is felt.
Is there a risk of allergies in cardiac tomography?
Since allergies may develop depending on the contrast agent given in the procedure, the patient's allergy history is taken in detail before the application. In case of allergy, the procedure is performed after the preventive medications are given and the patient is kept under supervision for a longer time after the procedure. In patients with a history of severe allergies such as anaphylaxis, the precautions that can be taken before consulting the Allergy Department are discussed.
Angio service is provided by our experienced and expert staff in our hospital. You can also take advantage of these services.
