In the Iraqi desert in the fall of 2004, a mortar landed five feet behind Aaron Wernz, a Specialist in the Army National Guard. The explosion sent shrapnel throughout Aaron’s body, collapsing his lungs and piercing his heart. Over the next two days, doctors in both Baghdad and Germany struggled to keep Aaron breathing and eventually succeeded in stabilizing his condition. Aaron returned to the United States where he slowly regained his strength; however, he faced a dilemma. A piece of shrapnel was still lodged in his heart, and doctors were unsure whether the piece would cause permanent, perhaps fatal, damage to his heart.

The resolution of the pictures from the CT scanner used on Aaron are incredibly detailed, and able, for instance, to clearly display if fat or calcium deposits have built up in coronary arteries and could cause a heart attack. These three-dimensional images allow physicians to study narrow, blocked, enlarged or malformed arteries without invasive surgery, enabling quick and accurate treatment. In many cases, the early diagnosis and treatment recommended by physicians through the CT scanner images are life-saving.¹

CT scanning has revolutionized cardiac patient care. Unlike an angiogram – an X-ray of the arteries, which requires a catheter to be inserted into the patient’s body – a CT scan does not require any incisions. Instead, only an IV is inserted into the arm to hydrate and medicate the patient. The patient is then positioned on the CT scanner’s table, and the heart and blood pressure are monitored. A small amount of X-ray dye is injected into the vessels to make them visible on X-ray images.¹

One in three adult Americans has some form of cardiovascular disease, and each day, nearly 2,500 Americans die from the disease, an average of one death every 35 seconds.³ The aging population of the United States will likely result in an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease including coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke. The direct and indirect costs of cardiovascular disease in the United States are estimated at $403.1 billion.³

The ability of the physician to make diagnoses earlier and non-invasively can cut costs by reducing stays in the hospital for the 64 million Americans who have high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, stroke and congenital cardiovascular defects. In acute care situations, doctors can now review images of the patient's heart before he or she has left the operating table, allowing them to provide immediate feedback to the patient. In addition, because both the time needed to prepare the patients for an examination and the examination time itself has been reduced, healthcare facilities will benefit from improved workflow and efficiency.^1,2

It has been almost two years since Aaron returned to the United States from Baghdad. Aaron married in July 2005 and was discharged from the Army later that year. He is healthy and confident that annual CT scans will allow doctors to best monitor the shrapnel that is still lodged in his heart. Aaron spends his days doing what he loves, fixing up an old home he bought and working as a grain farmer in Illinois. “I am so grateful for every day,” he said.