Do you have any information on EBCT or MRI for coronary disease?

I just did some quick research, and I wonder how good it is at detecting plaque that is not calcified. i imagine an angioplasty is more definitive.

Trump having an EBCT pre-supposes he has a heart. Maybe they were trying to determine how calcified his heart is.

@zenvelo Some of what I read was that it seems to be very good compared to angiogram, but I’m thinking angiogram might still be better for some circumstances. Angiogram is more expensive than EBCT as you can imagine I think during the angiogram they can do a stent if they need to. Is that right?

I had two stents placed while I was in the cardio lab for my angiogram. It meant pulling out he dye injecting lead and inserting a stent placing lead. Added twenty minutes to the procedure.

If you get an EBCT and they see a blockage, then they have to place a stent anyway.

I read over the weekend there is a new non invasive method of dissolving the plaque,

@zenvelo I think angiogram is usually fine when there has already been a cardiac event of some sort. EBCT is more like a measure of how things look, like doing a blood test. That’s my take on it anyway, I don’t know if that’s correct.

@JLeslie At an annual physical, I complained of fatigue and shortness of breath when exercising, despite having a resting heart rate in the mid 40s. My doctor noted it had been over ten years since I had a stress test, so scheduled it.

During my stress test ultrasound, there were some anomalies indicated, so an angiogram was scheduled. I ended up with two stents. The nurse asked “how did you get here”. I said, “I walked ten blocks from the train station.”

The nurse said, “I meant what kind of heart attack, most people get here by ambulance, not walking in on their own power.”

@zenvelo Lol. My dad had shortness of breath walking from his car in the parking lot to his office. It had been going on a few weeks, and a friend told him get a stress test. They didn’t even let him finish the stress test. Then he had the angiogram, and then bypass surgery. This was 30 years ago. His heart muscle is great, he never had a heart attack. All his arteries in his body are half clogged up or more though. You and he were both “lucky” to get to the problem before any damage to the heart.

Since then he has had to have a carotid artery completely tied off (make sure your doctor is checking your carotid arteries) and he did get a stent in some artery near his heart a few years ago.