- Advanced Bone Density Testing
- Body Composition Analysis
- Fees
- Vertebral Fracture Analysis
- Abdominal Aorta Calcification
- X-Rays Abdominal Aorta Calcification (AAC)
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is the leading causes of death of
women in Australia and most developed countries, with nearly
39 percent of all female deaths occurring from CHD.
Despite advances in treating Coronary Heart Disease, a large
number of CHD victims die suddenly without prior symptoms.
Many coronary heart specialists now believe that available
screening and diagnostic methods are insufficient to identify
high-risk CHD patients before the first event occurs. |
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As a result, physicians are urged to focus
more on the aggressive detection of preclinical or subclinical
atherosclerosis.
Our Hologic Discovery DEXA system can assist in determining
the possibility of coronary heart disease, stroke, and other forms
of cardiovascular disease in addition to its use in osteoporosis
assessment and vertebral analysis.
The new indication, visualising of Abdominal Aortic
Calcifications in a standard low dose bone density test, targets
the number one cause of morbidity and mortality in older men and
women - heart disease and stroke. AAC is significantly associated
with both cardiovascular heart disease and stroke even after
adjustment for the traditional risk factors of age, cigarette use,
diabetes mellitus, systolic blood pressure, left ventricular
hypertrophy, body mass index, cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol.
This new indication means that doctors can improve their ability
to predict cardiovascular events by using information already
contained in bone vertebral assessment studies. Since it's
recommended that post menopausal women have a bone density test
every two years, physicians can now visualize AAC which is
associated with heart and stroke problems on a much more frequent
basis.
Further Reading:
1.
Abdominal Aortic Calcification detected on lateral spine images
from a bone densitometer predicts incident Myocardial Infarction
or stroke in Older Women
Shousboe et al, Park Nicollet Health Services, Minneapolis MN
2.
Detection of Abdominal Aortic Calcification with IVA
White Paper
Kevin E. Wilson
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