St. Rita's offers a variety of preventative health screenings to help you and your physician determine your risk for certain diseases or disorders. The following is a list of screenings offered through St. Rita's Radiology and Imaging Services.
Heart Scan (Cardiac Scoring)
St. Rita's offers a basic heart screening that evaluates your risk of coronary artery disease called cardiac scoring. Using high speed CT (computed tomography) scanning equipment, images of the heart and the blood vessels supplying blood to the heart muscle are recorded. Based on your age, these images provide a basis to measure the amount of calcium in the heart's vessels, or your "calcium score." Why measure calcium? Over time, calcium can build up in the coronary vessels and potentially lead to plaque. Plaque build up can lead to blockages that cause heart attack or other heart disorders.
Cardiac scoring is a part of determining your risk for heart disease. Your physician can help you determine your heart disease risk by asking a number of questions and performing additional tests, including:
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- Your Family History of Heart Disease and Diabetes
- Smoking Habit
- Weight Issues
- Activity Level
- And Other Clinical Tests, Including Blood Pressure and Laboratory Tests for High Cholesterol
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Click here to learn more about cardiac scoring.
Lung Scan
Very thin sections of the lungs are imaged. Previous screening methods did not detect lung cancer in the early stages. Four out of five lung cancers, when found, were incurable. Today's scanning methodology finds cancers much earlier, even as small as a few millimeters. Many cancers found with CT technology can be removed if diagnosed in the early stages.
Body Scan
The body scan takes three-dimensional images of the internal organs in just a few minutes. Cancer and other growths in the abdominal and pelvic organs such as the liver, pancreas, kidneys, bladder as well as large growths on the ovaries and uterus can be visualized. Gall stones, kidney stones, aortic aneurysms can also be found. Such abnormalities may be impossible to find on physical examinations. Their detection with CT Screening allows earlier treatment, often before they become inoperable or incurable.
Virtual Colonoscopy
A virtual colonoscopy uses CT (computed tomography) scanning to examine the colon or large intestine. This screening is used to examine the colon's lining to detect polyps, or growths that are one centimeter or larger. Polyps greater than one centimeter have a greater cancer risk. Polyps vary in size and appearance. They may be the size of a wart and may grow to appear like a cherry on a stem. The incidence of polyps increases with age.
Click here to learn more about a virtual colonoscopy.
