Dear AuntMinnie Member,
The new generation of 64-slice CT scanners is demonstrating unprecedented power in the early detection of heart disease, often before symptoms ever occur. A Kentucky radiologist discovered this capability firsthand when his own heart disease was detected with a 64-slice CT scanner.
Dr. Benjamin Roach of Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital in Ashland, KY, was in his late 30s, had a good diet, and exercised frequently -- he even had a negative treadmill stress test. Although he was asymptomatic, he had a family history of heart disease, and so decided to have himself scanned with the new 64-slice CT scanner his hospital had recently acquired.
What he and his colleagues discovered surprised all of them, and demonstrates the enormous potential of 64-slice CT in the early detection of heart disease. Find out more in our CT Digital Community, or by clicking here.
In a related story, staff writer Eric Barnes describes work done by Israeli researchers comparing stress tests to 64-slice cardiac CT. They found that multidetector CT not only detected significant coronary artery disease in cases that were judged normal on stress test, but it also excluded CAD in stress cases that were equivocal.
Read all about that study by clicking here, or visit the CT Digital Community at ct.auntminnie.com.
![Axial images from unenhanced calcium score cardiac CT (left) and curved planar reformation images from CT angiography (right) show that higher long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with greater coronary artery calcium and more obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). Top row: Images in a 68-year-old male patient with higher 10-year mean ambient air pollution exposure (7.9 μg/m3 for particulate matter measuring ≤2.5 μm in diameter [PM2.5] and 17.4 parts per billion [ppb] for NO2) with extensive CAD (coronary artery calcium score [CACS] >1,000 and obstructive CAD [≥70% diameter stenosis]). Bottom row: Images in a 57-year-old female patient with lower 10-year mean ambient air pollution exposure (6.3 μg/m3 for PM2.5 and 4.6 ppb for NO2) with no CAD (CACS = 0 and no obstructive stenosis).](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/06/hanneman.r6SMLzkezo.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
