Detroit Physician Says New Heart Study Shows EBT Heart Scan is More Accurate for Estimating Heart Disease Risk

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- Dr. Marc Kahn of EBT-Heart & Body Imaging in Detroit says a newly released study on the accuracy of electron beam tomography (EBT) heart imaging could impact survival rates in Michigan by more accurately predicting heart disease. Michigan currently ranks 40 out of 50 states and the District of Columbia in the number of heart disease deaths per 100,000 residents, according to the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A recent study by Dr. Alan D. Guerci of St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, N.Y., concludes that electron beam computed tomography (EBCT) scoring of coronary calcification -- known as a heart scan -- is more accurate than conventional risk factor assessment in the prediction of coronary disease events. It marks the first study of its kind to follow a general population of non-symptomatic patients (more than 5,000 people) over a period of several years.

"Now, there is more evidence than ever that every adult over 40 with one or more risk factors should have a heart scan," says Kahn, medical director of EBT-Heart & Body Imaging. "It's important to be proactive, to take control of your health."

Conventional risk factor assessment involves tests based on such factors as blood pressure, cholesterol, family history, obesity and smoking. Kahn contends that these tests are not sufficient to detect early stage heart disease in patients who exhibit no symptoms. He emphasizes that conventional risk factors can only predict about one half of all heart attacks.

The heart scan measures a person's calcium score -- based on the quantity of heart vessel calcium deposits. The greater the amount of calcium deposits, the higher the score. According to the study, persons who scored greater than 100 were at 10 times higher risk for suffering a future cardiac event, such as a heart attack, than those scoring below 100.

GE Medical Systems -- whose EBT scanner was used for the St. Francis Hospital study -- said the conclusions of the study provide the most convincing data to date of EBT's incremental value over the conventional risk factors used by family physicians and cardiologists.

"Over the years, several outspoken critics within the medical community have attempted to question the validity of the EBT heart scan," adds Kahn. "Clearly, it's time for some of these people to look at this highly compelling evidence."

Kahn noted that results of the study additionally revealed that elevated calcium scores predict events independent of Framingham standard risk factors and, based on comparisons against that risk index, possibly more accurately. He believes the St. Francis Hospital study results will eventually lead the ACC/AHA to revise and update its statement on the use of EBCT testing as a prognostic tool to diagnose coronary artery disease.

EBT-Heart & Body Imaging serves the greater Detroit community with state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging technology. Located in Southfield, Mich., the facility offers lung, heart and full body scans as well as virtual colonoscopy and traditional CT scanning.

Source: EBT-Heart & Body Imaging