Why Electron Beam Tomography
FRPI employs only extensively validated FDA approved
technology and the most advanced software for each service. That is
why we have invested in Electron Beam Tomography, the undisputed
gold standard in noninvasive coronary imaging.
People should be aware of the trend by
some other groups to employ unproven and higher radiation spiral or
helical CT scanners when imaging the heart —an unfortunate practice that
is expanding in our region.
Doctors associated with FRPI have been
practicing in Colorado for many years and remain committed to offering
gold standard technology that is FDA approved for its clinical uses.
- Beware of
Spiral/Helical CT scanners
Front Range Preventive Imaging uses
Electron Beam Tomography (EBT), the only extensively proven technology
able to perform accurate coronary artery imaging and quantify coronary
calcium. Recently, cheaper and largely unproven "spiral or helical CT"
scanners have emerged in various cities claiming to be able to scan the
heart. Spiral scanners cannot acquire images fast enough to prevent
blurring due to the cardiac motion that occurs continuously. Studies
have proven that spiral/helical scanners frequently mischaracterize
patients as scores generated by these scanners are not necessarily
accurate. In addition, the radiation dosage from such scanners is always
higher than EBT, sometimes by several times.
The EBT scanner is FDA approved and was
developed as a cardiac imaging tool in the early 1980s with regular
improvements since. It is available worldwide at leading preventive
heart centers like the Mayo Clinic and UCLA and is considered the "gold
standard" in coronary imaging.
There are now hundreds of articles in the
cardiology literature concerning EBT. Centers that employ spiral CT
scanners do not have any proof about the value of their scanners in
coronary calcification detection….therefore they use the EBT literature
and pretend it is also true for their inferior technology. The
recommendations for therapy have only been published for EBT. The
coronary calcium score measured by EBT has already been proven to be a
powerful predictor of future coronary events and has been shown to be
able to monitor the progression, stabilization or reversal of
atherosclerosis. No such proof of accuracy occurs from any of the other
scanners.
Our advice:
-
Never
obtain a coronary scan from a spiral or helical CT scanner. Be
certain the scanner is an Imatron EBT.
- It is especially important that your previous
scan by EBT is not followed by a scan from another technology. No
physician will be able to interpret the score differences between
the two scans to interpret rate of disease progression or
improvement. We can obtain your old records from other scanning
centers that use EBT technology.
- If you are concerned about radiation dosage, use
only EBT scanning for all possible applications.
- Go to an excellent display and discussion at
www.heartscan.com
including information from EBCT expert Dr. John
Rumberger.
