Executive Checkup.

• Author: SKERTIC, ALISON
• Position: Scans give early warning

If you're over 35, consider getting scanned.

To stay competitive and meet the needs of their patients, Indiana hospitals have aggressively sought out state-of-the-art equipment to provide early diagnosis of patients' problems and detect risk factors for problems down the line.

For example, heart disease is the No. 1 killer in the United States, and every year a quarter of a million Americans die from heart attacks with no previous symptoms. That's one reason many hospitals and clinics across the state are beginning to offer new ultra-fast computed-tomography (CT) scans that can show damage to the heart before any symptoms are present.

"It is very important because in the last few years our thinking about heart attack has changed significantly," says Daniel Bailey, president of Mediscan USA in Indianapolis, which offers a Heartscore scan.

"We didn't think people without risk factors died of heart attack, but that's what happens," Bailey says. He recommends that men over age 35 and women over 45 have the test, even if they don't think they need it. The test measures the amount of calcified plaque in the coronary arteries. He says it is now more important whether plaque is there at all, not only if there is a large blockage.

Bailey says the true culprit in a heart attack is when a plaque build-up gets infected with bacteria, swells and pops. According to the Mayo Clinic, 68 percent of people who experience a heart attack have less than 50 percent blockage.

A physician referral is not required to receive the scan. During the appointment, a patient gives some medical background and takes a 35-second CT scan. "Within a 30-minute period they see the images and know if they have plaque."

Dr. Brett Hagedorn, director of computed tomography at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, says significant narrowing of the arteries has already occurred before a person feels chest pain or other symptoms.

"If you're 40 years old or so and you want to see if you're developing hardening of the arteries, you can have this test done," he explains. If the test detects plaque in the arteries, the patient can modify risk factors to lower progression of the disease and decrease the chance of a cardiovascular event.

The Northwest Radiology Network, which has several offices in Indianapolis and Fishers, offers full body scans, including a look at the chest, abdomen and pelvis.

"We offer a whole body scan, with or without the heart scan, or we can do just the heart or do just...