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Heart Cath vs. 64 slice heart scan
It seems every major city has the 64 slice heart scan and I hear it's as good or better as a heart catherization so why wouldn't everyone do the heart scan? Supposedly it is covered by insurance and less expensive. What am I missing here?
I am a 35 year old female who is obese. My cholesterol is 234, dr wants to wait a few months before starting me on meds. My blood pressure is controlled by a beta blocker, average around 122/80 and I am on coumadin due to a pulmonary embolism a few years ago. About four months ago I was in the ER for a massive outbreak of hives and they did an EKG which had a slight abnormality and they told me to follow up with my internist. When I went to the internist she said the cardiologist looked at my EKG and it was fine, no need for further tests or anything. For the past few weeks I have been having unexplained left shoulder pain, stomach pain and have been a little dizzy. I'm also anemic. I will have some mild chest pains that only last for a second or two every once in a while. I'm really starting to freak out about this shoulder pain, it comes and goes and I didn't pull a muscle or injure it in any way. I can't get in to see my doctor for another 3 weeks. I'm sure she will send me for a stress test which then I am going to have to take a few days to come off the beta blocker. I'm wondering if I can skip all that and go straight to the heart scan.
I am a 35 year old female who is obese. My cholesterol is 234, dr wants to wait a few months before starting me on meds. My blood pressure is controlled by a beta blocker, average around 122/80 and I am on coumadin due to a pulmonary embolism a few years ago. About four months ago I was in the ER for a massive outbreak of hives and they did an EKG which had a slight abnormality and they told me to follow up with my internist. When I went to the internist she said the cardiologist looked at my EKG and it was fine, no need for further tests or anything. For the past few weeks I have been having unexplained left shoulder pain, stomach pain and have been a little dizzy. I'm also anemic. I will have some mild chest pains that only last for a second or two every once in a while. I'm really starting to freak out about this shoulder pain, it comes and goes and I didn't pull a muscle or injure it in any way. I can't get in to see my doctor for another 3 weeks. I'm sure she will send me for a stress test which then I am going to have to take a few days to come off the beta blocker. I'm wondering if I can skip all that and go straight to the heart scan.
Thanks kenkeith, I would love to have that done but I probably shouldn't wait four months.
A ct scan would be appropriate for you as the scan includes the respiratory system (pulmonary for embolism) as well as heart and the aorta. You can skip stress test if a ct scan 64 slice is taken.
I just called the heart scan place and the wait list is 4 months! Maybe that is why, some people can't wait that long. Kinda *****.
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