CARIBOU, Maine — Cary Medical Center has become the first hospital in the County to offer a special diagnostic exam called “Cardiac CT” or coronary angiogram. This diagnostic exam uses powerful CT Scanning, along with intravenous contrast material to obtain high-resolution pictures of the heart and great vessels. The procedure is noninvasive and generally requires no recovery time.
A CT coronary angiogram is mainly used to check for narrowed or blocked arteries in the heart. However, it can check for other heart conditions. Shawn Laferriere, DO, chief of radiology at Cary Medical Center said that the hospital’s recent purchase of a new, ‘State of the Art’, CT scanner, helped to make the new procedure possible.
“Our new CT Scanner is equipped with advanced software and has the ability to construct detailed imaging of the heart and important arteries and vessels to identify potential problems that may require additional, more invasive treatment, or may rule out the need for such treatment,” said Laferriere. “We have been very happy with the performance of our CT and the quality of the studies we have done”.
Lisa St. Peter, who was only the second patient and the first female to have this exam done at Cary, wanted to share her experience.
“My experience was exceptional,” she said. The entire team involved with this exam treated me with care and compassion and educated me every step of the way.”
St. Peter explained that she was given two options for diagnostic procedures after alerting her doctor to symptoms she was having.
“I began having intermittent symptoms this past summer. I tried to ignore them but they didn’t go away. At my annual physical in October I shared my symptoms with my doctor. Considering my fairly young age, being female and having a reasonably healthy lifestyle my doctor didn’t brush these symptoms aside and attribute them to stress or digestive issues but immediately ordered diagnostic tests which indicated that there were some issues,” she said. “I had the choice of being referred to a cardiologist and potentially traveling outside of the County to have a cardiac catheterization or to start with the CT Coronary Angiogram with Calcium Scoring. I chose the Cardiac CT which could be done right here at Cary Medical Center.”
Results of her Cardiac CT revealed that no further diagnostic testing was required.
The ability to have the Cardiac CT close to home has a number of advantages. Based on the results of the test it may prevent the need to travel outside of the area and the expense involved and may avoid having to experience more invasive procedures with additional recovery time.
“The biggest advantage,” said St. Peter, is being cared for by our own health care providers who treat us like family.”
Over the past year Cary Medical Center has put on line the advanced CT scanner and a new Magnetic Resonance Imaging instrument. The hospital continues to expand services and advance technology so that more care for patients can be delivered closer to their homes. Kris Doody, RN and CEO for Cary Medical Center said that the advanced technology is only part of the equation.
“We are very pleased to offer this new technology for the benefit of patients in Aroostook County. Our new CT and MRI have taken our diagnostic capability to an entirely new level,” said Doody who is also CEO for Pines Health Services. “It is really the professional staff here at Cary that makes it all possible. They have the professional skills and confidence to deliver advanced procedures along with the empathy and personal approach that has become such a part of our culture.”
Prior to offering the new Cardiac CT procedure the radiologists at Cary had to complete additional, specialized training. All of Cary’s radiologists have now successively completed the required training.
