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Imaging Services
CT Scanning for Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. In 1998, there were an estimated 160,000 deaths from lung cancer. The cure rate is only 12% and the 5-year survival rate is only slightly higher. Currently chest x-rays do not identify tumors early enough to change outcomes. Unfortunately, almost 85% of lung cancers are now discovered at a late stage, due to lack of preventative imaging measures. At Executive Medicine of Texas, body scan patients are screened for lung cancer using CT technology as part of their Platinum Level Physical.
Recent studies show that high-speed CT scanners greatly improve the likelihood of detection of malignant disease, 4 times higher than that of chest x-rays. Of those detected, 87% were found at stage I. When stage I cancer is identified and treated, the 5 year survival rate can be as high as 70%. C.T. screening requires less than 20 seconds of scanning time and requires no intravenous contrast material.
CT Scanning for Heart Disease
Every 20 seconds someone has a heart attack and almost 1/3 of those people have had no prior symptoms. Calcium scoring can identify as much as 93% of these “at risk” patients before the heart attack occurs. Anatomic studies have established that coronary vessel calcification is associated with atherosclerotic disease. The more extensive the calcification, the more frequent and more severe the degree of stenosis of the coronary vessels. With advanced CT technology, cardiovascular disease can be detected, as well as identification of calcification of the arteries.
Nuclear Medicine
Nuclear medicine specialists use safe, painless, and cost-effective techniques to image the body and treat disease. Nuclear medicine imaging is unique, because it provides doctors with information about both structure and function. It is a way to gather medical information that would otherwise be unavailable, require surgery, or necessitate more expensive diagnostic tests. Nuclear medicine imaging procedures often identify abnormalities very early in the progress of a disease, long before any medical problems are apparent with other diagnostic exams.
Nuclear medicine uses very small amounts of radioactive materials (radiopharmaceuticals) during the scanning process. When imaging, the radiopharmaceuticals are detected by special types of cameras that work with computers to provide very precise pictures of the area of the body being imaged.