What is CCTA? 

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, killing more Americans than all cancers combined. This year alone more than one million Americans will experience some kind of acute cardiac event, and half of those will die as a result. Even those who are lucky enough to survive a heart attack frequently experience compromised health and vitality.

CCTA – a diagnostic breakthrough. For patients who are known to be at higher risk of heart disease, or those with symptoms, a more comprehensive CT examination is performed.  Coronary Computed Tomographic Angiography, or CCTA, is one of the most dramatic breakthroughs in coronary artery disease detection in decades. An advanced, 64-slice CT scanner is used to produce amazing three-dimensional, high-resolution images of the coronary arteries. 

Coronary CTA is similar to the CT calcium score, but in addition to identifying calcified “hard” plaque, it can also visualize the walls of the coronary arteries in great detail and detect the location and severity of fatty “soft” plaque buildup there. This soft plaque within the artery wall, also known as “vulnerable plaque,” can leak into the bloodstream without warning and cause a heart attack by causing the blood to collect or clot at the site of the rupture.  

The great advantage of CCTA is that it can discover signs of coronary artery disease that could lead to a heart attack, yet are not detectable using other diagnostic tests. Using the CCTA in conjunction with your calcium score, your physician will be able to identify the exact severity level (if any) of coronary artery disease you may have – and will have all the information he or she needs to determine the appropriate course of treatment.

Fast scan, faster results. Unlike more invasive methods of evaluating your heart attack risk, a CCTA scan takes just 15 minutes to perform – and you can have it done at ProScan’s convenient Midtown outpatient imaging center. Just a few minutes of advance preparation are required, and a specially trained CT radiologist will go over the results of your scan with you within ten minutes of having the examination. This extremely accurate test is covered by most insurance plans, including Medicare.

The Heart Attack Prevention Institute at Proscan Imaging, in partnership with your physician, can identify heart disease in its earliest stages so that appropriate preventive care can be administered. Our goal is simple: to help prevent you from having a heart attack. For your sake…and the sake of everyone who is counting on you.