Ct Angiography

Stress is something that most people have to deal with at certain points of their life. Some people choose healthy ways to cope with stress, such as yoga, exercising, and taking walks. Other people choose to eat lots of fatty food that might taste good, but is not right for their bodies. Still others might choose to drink alcohol and smoke.

All of these things (aside from genetic factors) can lead to heart disease and circulation problems that need to be checked by a CT angiography. Using special radiation technology, the goal of a Ct angiography is to detect irregularities in the blood vessels, as well as the presence of possible coronary artery disease, clots, or aneurysms. In some cases, this scan might also be done to detect the presence of tumors.

In order to understand the necessity for a scan such as the CT angiography, it is important to find out more about what actually causes heart disease. Genetic factors can definitely result in predispositions to this problem, especially if high cholesterol and high blood pressure run in a family. But, how can the lifestyle choices already discussed specifically contribute to heart disease?

When a person makes the choice to eat a lot of fatty foods, the boy dispersed the fat that it cannot digest into the bloodstream. This can lead to plaque buildup in the arteries, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure, all of which affect the performance of the heart, leading to a higher chance of a stroke or an aneurysm. The chemicals in smoking and the high amount of carbohydrates in alcoholic beverages can do the same thing.

This is where the CT angiography comes in. People who have never had this scan done before are usually curious to know how they should prepare. First of all, there might be some food and drink restrictions (meaning that the patient cannot eat or drink anything before having the scan done). These restrictions will be indicated to the patient by their doctor beforehand.

Patients will need to arrive to the outpatient facility wearing comfortable, metal free clothing so as not to interfere with the efficiency of the scanning technology. This might seem easier than one might think, considering that much of the clothing people wear nowadays contains metal buttons or zippers. The same policy needs to be enacted with any accessories that the person might be wearing. Also, glasses and hearing aids will need to be removed before having the Ct Angiography.

The next step might or might not need to take place, in accordance with what the patient is having the scan done for. This step involves having a contrast material given intravenously to the patient. The purpose of the contrast material is to highlight a certain area of the body so that the scanning images can thus become enhanced.

The interesting thing about this scan is that it actually will take longer to get the patient ready for the scan (fifteen minutes if a contrast material is going to be needed) than the scan itself will take, which is less than a minute. After they have the Ct angiography, most people are able to resume regular activities.