The best way to get ahead of heart disease is to have your arteries carefully scanned and evaluated for the possible presence of calcium. INTEGRIS Heart and Vascular Institute of Northwest Oklahoma gives you a clearer picture of your heart with the INTEGRIS Bass Heart Scan.
The Heart Scan creates images of your heart and coronary arteries, providing a precise measure of calcium deposits. The key is to assess your risk of developing coronary artery disease…while there’s still time to help prevent it.
The heart scan is a simple nonsurgical outpatient test. No injections, dyes, fasting or other preparations are necessary. Nor do you need a physician referral.
If you have never experienced chest pain but do have risk factors for developing heart disease a coronary calcium screening may be right for you.
Risk factors include but are not limited to family history, high blood pressure, diabetes, inactivity or obesity. A heart scan is just $40. It’s a quick and affordable way to enjoy peace of mind.
CT scanning—sometimes called CAT scanning—is a noninvasive medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions.
CT scanning combines special x-ray equipment with sophisticated computers to produce multiple images or pictures of the inside of the body. These cross-sectional images of the area being studied can then be examined on a computer monitor, printed or transferred to a CD.
CT scans of internal organs, bones, soft tissue and blood vessels provide greater clarity and reveal more details than regular x-ray exams.
A cardiac CT scan for coronary calcium is a non-invasive way of obtaining information about the presence, location and extent of calcified plaque in the coronary arteries—the vessels that supply oxygen-containing blood to the heart muscle. Calcified plaque results when there is a build-up of fat and other substances under the inner layer of the artery. This material can calcify which signals the presence of atherosclerosis, a disease of the vessel wall, also called coronary artery disease (CAD). People with this disease have an increased risk for heart attacks. In addition, over time, progression of plaque build up (CAD) can narrow the arteries or even close off blood flow to the heart. The result may be chest pain, sometimes called "angina," or a heart attack.
Because calcium is a marker of CAD, the amount of calcium detected on a cardiac CT scan is a helpful prognostic tool. The findings on cardiac CT are expressed as a calcium score.
To schedule your heart scan, call 580-548-1700.
