Cardiac or Coronary CT Scan
Cardiac CT
As the name suggests, this is a CT scan of your heart, or more specifically the coronary arteries. Coronary arteries are blood vessels that bring blood to the muscles of the heart. If a coronary artery is narrowed or blocked, a person can experience angina chest pain or in more severe circumstances, a heart attack.
A cardiac CT is used specifically to examine the coronary arteries. It also shows the rest of the heart but MRI is better at assessing other structures.
As there are other ways to assess coronary arteries, you need to see a cardiologist first. A cardiologist will be able to advise you if you need a cardiac CT or other investigation.
The fast movement of our heart can create a blurring effect on the images, just like sometimes we see blurring in some photos due to fast movement. To avoid this, a fast scanning CT is used and sometimes you will be given injections to slow your heart rate down just before the scan. You will be connected to ECG leads to monitor your heart rate. You will also be given a GTN tablet or spray to dilate your coronary arteries and make them look bigger on the scan. All these steps are to ensure that we get the best images possible.
Cardiac CT scans are usually reported by radiologists or cardiologists who have undergone special training and are accredited by the British Society of Cardiac Imaging as Cardiac CT practitioners.