Ground-breaking technology is now able to identify inflammed fat around heart arteries which can be the precursor to a heart attack, and thus lead people towards rapid treatment, the Health & Protection IPMI Summit has heard.
According to professor Bernard Prendergast, chairman of cardiology at Cleveland Clinic London (pictured), the technology enables patients to choose cardiovascular treatment more tailored to their individual needs.
He told delegates the technology provides fat attenuation imaging of the coronary arteries which is amenable from a standard CTC scan of the coronary anatomy.
“Using these scans we are able to liaise with colleagues at Oxford University who have developed it and learn more about the levels of the inflammation in the fat that surrounds the coronary arteries,” Prendergast explained.
“We are not talking about the wall of the artery. We are not talking about the lumen of the artery.
“But we are talking about the surrounding fat that provides a signal regarding the levels of inflammation in the wall and the outside wall of the coronary arteries themselves.
“It is this inflammation that drives the risk of rupture of a narrowing within the artery and which drives the propensity of unstable angina or heart attack.”
Prendergast said the technology was available to people that wanted to do more to understand their personal levels of cardiovascular risk and drive more aggressive forms of treatment tailored to them that will reduce their risk over a 10-year subsequent period.
“This is something we are seeing is immensely popular with our patients who want to do more than just take a medicine for the cholesterol and lower their blood pressure,” Prendergast added.
“There are new treatment agents available and we can intensify our treatment targets and we can use this technology to determine the impact on risk over a subsequent time period.”
