Prof Ruparelia will suggest proceeding to a CT coronary angiogram if there is some concern that there may be a narrowing or a blockage of a coronary artery accounting for your symptoms (CT coronary angiogram).
Prof Ruparelia may also suggest a CT scan for patients being considered for a structural intervention - specifically for procedural planning for TAVI (transcatheter aortic valve implantation), PVL (paravalvular leak closure) or LAAO (left atrial appendage occlusion).
You will be asked to attend for your CT at a pre-specified time. You may required to have your renal (kidney) function checked prior to the test due to the requirement of contrast administration.
A small cannula is inserted into a vein in the arm through which contrast can be administered. If your heart rate is fast, often beta-blockers are administered to slow this down so that optimal images can be obtained.
You will then be asked to lie down on a table in the CT scanning room and following injection of the contrast, you will be asked to hold your breath for a couple of seconds and keep still during which pictures are taken of the coronary arteries of the heart.
A CT coronary angiogram is very safe with a very small risk (<0.01%) of an adverse reaction to the contrast administered. This can be managed at the time in the rare event of occurrence.
The CTCA itself takes approximately 15 minutes. If your heart rate is high you will require the administration of beta blockers and this may take upto 30 minutes to achieve the required heart rate to achieve optimal images.
Following your CT scan, the images are reported by a specialist radiologist and the results are usually available within 24-48 hours. Prof Ruparelia will arrange a time to meet you to discuss the results and formulate an ongoing management plan
Professor Neil Ruparelia 2024