| Groundbreaking new technology in the form of a | | | | value that ensures accuracy. |
| VCT scanner can save lives by detecting heart | | | | When the Centers for Disease Control and |
| disease at its early stages. "It's a safe, five-second | | | | Prevention released data announcing that the U.S. |
| scan that measures and calculates calcium buildup | | | | 2004 mortality rate plummeted by nearly 50,000 |
| — cholesterol-laden plaque — in the | | | | — the steepest drop since 1938 — |
| arteries," says Dan Caterino, owner of South Coast | | | | industry expert Caterino saw it coming. "Heart |
| Signature Services Inc., in Anaheim, Calif. ( "A calcium | | | | disease continues to be the number one killer in the |
| score chart provides a safe outline for the | | | | U.S., but the year is notable because early applications |
| interpreters reading the scan." Not only is the VCT | | | | provided in 2004 inspired the new technology in the |
| scanner patient friendly, but it also provides | | | | scanners of today," he says. |
| cardiologists with a 97% to 99% negative predictive | | | | |