Know When CT Angiography Is Useful and When Its Unnecessary

A computed tomography angiogram can help confirm or rule out coronary artery disease, but the test should be used only in certain cercumstances.

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When it comes to heart health, youve probably undergone or at least heard about a whole range of tests-from EKGs to nuclear stress tests. And one of the more commonly performed tests these days is a computed tomography (CT) angiogram. It uses powerful x-ray equipment and a special dye to make the coronary arteries visible by the CT scanner. This differs from a traditional coronary angiogram, which uses a catheter to deliver the contrast dye to the area being examined. The advantage of a traditional angiogram is that if a blockage is found, the catheter may be used to deploy a stent in the blocked artery.
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