ELECTRON-BEAM CT SCANNING FOR DETECTION OF CORONARY CALCIFICATION ANDPREDICTION OF CORONARY HEART-DISEASE

Electron-beam or ultrafast computerized tomographic (CT) scanning prov ides a convenient and sensitive means of detecting coronary calcificat ion, which is an early index of atherosclerosis. The procedure has str ong negative predictive power for the presence of coronary artery dise ase, but a limited ability to predict disease severity. However, preli minary indications are that it is as good or better than conventional risk factors in this respect. Although further validation is needed be fore electron-beam CT can be regarded as an established method of dete cting presymptomatic coronary atherosclerosis, the procedure has poten tial in this context.