MRI and computer technology are merging to give doctors unprecedented views of the heart, as well as a new, non-invasive tool for predicting heart attacks.
A few months ago, Keith Weatherman was experiencing shortness of breath and crushing chest pain. EKG tests found nothing, so his doctor ordered a new, cardiac MRI stress test.
[It was] very simple. Non-invasive. No radiation involved, Weatherman says. Very quick results.
First, patients are required to have an MRI scan. Images are taken and simultaneously downloaded onto a computer program called CardioVue. The program organizes hundreds of pictures, so it can give doctors a real-time view of the heart when it is at rest and under stress. When doctors use standard MRIs, it may take them five minutes or more just to see the images.
Greg Hundley, M.D., a cardiologist at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., helped develop the CardioVue. He believes it will help doctors identify who exactly is at risk of having a heart attack. It helps us stratify and say, Well, you are the one thats much more likely to have a heart attack if you have a positive MRI stress test versus someone that does not, Dr. Hundley says.
The MRI can also show more detail than other tests and allows doctors to watch the heart as it beats.
The cardiac MRI provided a great deal more information in terms of [Weathermans] blood flow and the patterns of his heart that were receiving inadequate circulation, says John Hoyle, M.D., a cardiologist at Wake Forest University.
Because the program sorts out the images during the stress test, it can also cut down on the time between diagnosis and treatment.
I was in the cath lab probably within an hour after the results were obtained, Weatherman says. I had some stents put in, and I was good to go after that.
Weatherman was shocked to find the new test detected a 95 percent blockage in his heart that the EKG had missed. He says he is glad he had the new test.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Jim Steele
Public Relations
Wake Forest University Baptist
Medical Center
Winston-Salem, N.C.
jsteele@wfumbmc.edu