Unique new hybrid cardiac imaging system

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center now offers patients a unique new hybrid imaging system that expands diagnostic and screening capabilities by combining nuclear cardiology with multi-slice CT imaging in one scanner.

With this new device, called the Precedence SPECT/CT system, cardiologists and radiologists can obtain advanced clinical images of the heart that may help lead to potentially lifesaving treatment options or rule out serious heart conditions. The state-of-the-art system is the first in the Northeast and one of only a few nationally dedicated to cardiovascular testing.

"We're thrilled to be able to offer to our patients this important advance in cardiac imaging," says Dr. Lynne Johnson, professor of medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and director of nuclear cardiology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia. "The Precedence SPECT/CT system represents an advance in heart imaging comparable to the move to high-definition television in video."

Nuclear stress testing is particularly useful for physicians because it allows them to see areas in the heart that do not receive enough blood flow -- indicating a dangerous narrowing of a coronary artery or a previous heart attack. This is typically performed using a technique called SPECT imaging. According to Philips Medical Systems of Bothell, Wash., makers of the Precedence SPECT/CT system, their device offers patients several advantages over traditional SPECT systems: higher resolution of heart images, correction for interference in pictures of the heart caused by other nearby organs, and decreased image noise. In addition, the device enables patients to have coronary calcium scoring, an important prognosticator of cardiac events, performed as part of a nuclear stress test.