- Archbold Hospital offers Coronary CTA with HeartFlow, providing detailed images of coronary arteries without invasive procedures.
. - According to a study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the Southeast U.S. has a 16% higher cardiovascular death rate than the national average.
- Archbold is the only provider within 30 miles offering this advanced technology to patients in neighboring small towns.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
For many people in Thomasville, getting advanced heart screenings used to mean a long trip out of town.
I'm Layan Abu Tarboush, your Thomasville neighborhood reporter.
I'm taking a look at new technology that helps doctors detect heart problems early—without surgery or travel.
"Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer for Americans," said Christopher Daniels, Cardiovascular doctor at Archbold. "Despite the progress that we're making with technology, with the ability to do certain procedures, as well as screening, it still remains number one,"
According to the CDC heart disease claims a life every 33 seconds in the U.S.
In fact, it's even worse here in the Southeast.
A recent study from the University of Alabama found that the rate of mortality from heart disease is 16% higher than the national average.
"If you look at the maps, the southeastern region, there's a high prevalence for increased mortality from coronary artery disease," said Daniels. "And a lot of that goes into maybe decreased screening."
In Thomas County, Archbold Hospital is on a mission to change that and expand access to life-saving screenings.
Just a couple of months ago, they introduced the HeartFlow CT scan, a non-invasive test that helps doctors detect heart problems early, without the need for surgery or lengthy travel.
"We're actually able to look at your coronary vessels," said Daniels. "We're able to determine the amount of calcium buildup that's actually in your coronary vessels or around your coronary vessels. But also we're able to kind of determine the significance of stenosis. What stenosis means is actually blockage in the coronary vessel or in the vessel that supplies blood flow to your heart,"
Archbold is now the only hospital within a 30-mile radius offering this level of advanced heart imaging, which was previously only available in larger cities like Atlanta and Jacksonville.
"So the kind of genesis of why we wanted to expand the imaging options for our cardiology patients were mostly because of demand," said Chris Newman, Vice President of clinical services at Archbold. "We have a lot of patients in the surrounding communities that need cardiology care."
One thing that struck me about this technology is that it's often less expensive for patients, since it requires fewer tools and avoids invasive procedures.
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