Heart Disease

 Heart disease is the number one killer of Americans. Accurate, reliable and reproducible imaging of the heart and blood vessels is vital to the diagnosis, management and follow up of heart disease, and can prevent death and disability. Fortunately, there have been huge advances in the ability of radiologists and cardiologists to evaluate the heart without resorting to potentially dangerous and painful invasive testing. Now a modern multidisciplinary imaging center such as that at Santa Clarita UCLA has access to the full range of diagnostic imaging modalities, including high field strength MRI and exceptionally fast CT scanners.
CT scanning allows the coronary arteries, source of heart attacks, to be evaluated for calcium, clot or plaque, without the need for catheters or an invasive angiogram. State of the art CT scanners coupled with advanced protocols such as available at Santa Clarita UCLA allow for the entire heart to scanned and all the necessary information to be gained in almost any patient within just a few seconds.
MRI allows the tissue and blood vessels of the body to be imaged without the need for radiation or kidney damaging dye. It is technically more challenging than CT in both the acquisition and interpretation, but where the skill set and equipment are in place, such as at Santa Clarita UCLA, MRI is a powerful tool in evaluating the heart for chest pain, aneurysms or before any major coronary procedure
The vast majority of patients are suitable for MRI, and indeed patients previously thought to be unable to undergo MRI such as those with pacemakers may now be scanned safely in specialist centers such as UCLA.
Visit www.radiology.ucla.edu for more information about the UCLA Santa Clarita Imaging and Interventional Center.