Cath Lab

Example of an aortic valve CT imaging workup for TAVR valve sizing and assessing access routes. This patient has an aneurism in the aortic arch. Image from GE Healthcare.

In June 2019, Medis received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its QAngio XA 3D technology (QFR). The FFR-angio technology can show the FFR readings in a 3-D image and overlaid on a fluoro image. 

There are always a lot of guidewires used in CTO cases, but they all look the same so it can be confusing as to which is which as they are exchanged out and are all set on the same table. John Messenger, M.D., at the University of Colorado, likes to write the name of each wire on a towel and put the towel on top to keep them straight for himself and staff in the room. Photo by Dave Fornell.

Coronary CT angiography images of a coronary artery depicting the perivascular fat attenuation index (FAI) before and after psoriasis biologic drug therapy at one-year follow-up. Patients had excellent response to biologic therapy, showing clear reductions in the inflammation in plaques that cause heart attacks and stokes. Image from the Oxford Academic Cardiovascular CT Core Lab and Lab of Inflammation and Cardiometabolic Diseases at NHLBI.

 

An example of FFR-CT imaging from Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich. The left image shows a 3D generated image of the coronary tree from a CT scan evaluated with computational fluid dynamics to determine the FFR numbers. It shows a severe restriction of the left main artery which requires a stent to revacularize. The image on the right is a comparison with the invasive angiogram from the cath lab prior to stenting.