Breast Cancer

Toshiba Introduces FaCTor64 Study to Improve Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease in Asymptomatic Diabetics

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It is estimated that approximately 16-million Americans have coronary heart disease (CHD) of which 500,000 die annually. Most people with CHD have no symptoms and about 300,000 per year have their first presentation of CHD as either heart attack or sudden death. Nonetheless, there is no accepted detection test for the presence of CHD, as there is for breast cancer or colon cancer. faCTor64 is a landmark study to assess an asymptomatic diabetic population at higher risk for CHD using a revolutionary modality, cardiac CT angiography.

The study will be performed in conjunction with Intermountain Healthcare, a community-owned system of nonprofit hospitals and clinics based in Salt Lake City, Utah that provides medical care to residents of Utah and Idaho. More than 1,000 patients from Utah, women older than 55 years old and men older than 50 years old, will be enrolled in the faCTor64 study using Intermountain Healthcare's diabetes registry of 30,000 patients, who have already received best-practice diabetic care. Intermountain, known for its quality initiatives, has one of the largest diabetic databases in the country.

The faCTor64 study will use Toshiba's Aquilion(TM) 64-slice CT system to capture obstructive and non-obstructive, or sub-clinical, coronary heart disease data to determine the best way to treat diabetic patients.

"Patients with diabetes have two- to four-times greater risk of cardiovascular disease than non-diabetic patients," explained Dr. Donald Lappe, FACC, chief of cardiology at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City and medical director of the Intermountain Healthcare Cardiovascular Clinical Program. "This, coupled with the fact that cardiovascular death is the most common cause of mortality among Type 2 diabetics, emphasizes the importance of the faCTor64 study. The ability to detect CHD in at-risk, asymptomatic patients will have a significant impact on the ability to improve their cardiac conditions and will help save lives."

"We believe the results of faCTor64 will improve the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes patients, who are more likely to develop CHD," said Toshihiro Rifu, senior fellow, Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation. "This study will provide optimal information to guide patient management and measure clinical outcomes."

The faCTor64 procedure is based on Toshiba's CorE 64 study and will be conducted in partnership with Johns Hopkins University. Enrollment for the study has already begun. Intermountain Healthcare Center is using its five Toshiba Aquilion 64-slice CT systems to diagnose patients in the study.

Keywords: Angiography, Angiology, Breast Cancer, Breast Carcinoma, Cardiology, Cardiovascular Disease, Colon Cancer, Colon Carcinoma, Coronary Artery Disease, Coronary Heart Disease, Diabetes, Endocrinology, Heart Attack, Heart Catheterization, Heart Disease, Oncology, Sudden Death, Women's Health, Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc.

This article was prepared by Cardiovascular Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2007, Cardiovascular Week via NewsRx.com.