Advanced Cardiovascular Screening

Undetected cardiovascular disease may be the greatest health risk facing people today. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for both men and women in this country; killing more people than the next five causes of death combined, including all cancers. For many, the first sign that they have heart disease is a heart attack. And, 1 out of 4 of those first time heart attacks are fatal.

For women, the typical symptoms of a heart attack may be different than for men. To complicate matters, the standard screening tests can fail to uncover heart disease in 30-40% of women. Although breast cancer may instill greater fear, more than 10 times more women die each year from heart disease (see “Women and Heart Disease”).

Standard cholesterol tests are nearly useless in gauging an individual’s risk of cardiovascular disease (see “Seven Myths about Cholesterol”). Approximately 60% of people who have a heart attack have normal cholesterol, and 80% of the people who have a cardiovascular event have the same cholesterol numbers as someone that is event-free. It is clear that information beyond the standard lipid panel is needed. More importantly, it has become widely accepted now that chronic silent inflammation plays a critical role in the genesis of cardiovascular disease. At Alternity Healthcare, we have developed a unique combination of risk assessment and direct disease process measurement for cardiovascular disease.

HeartSmartIMTplus™ is a non-invasive, state-of-the-art, diagnostic tool for the earliest detection of cardiovascular disease. The value of carotid IMT has been recognized by the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology and the American Society of Echocardiography for the early detection of heart disease in asymptomatic patients. This technology won “Most Life Changing Product” at the 3rd annual 2008 DeviceFest BIOCOM conference.   Alternity Healthcare is the first in Connecticut to make this technology available in a clinical setting.

  • Click on the “Take Heart” image to the left to download an informative brochure on heart disease prevention.
  • Mayo Clinic Proceedings, March 2009: Subclinical atherosclerotic vascular disease can be detected by CIMT evaluation in young to middle-aged patients with a low Framingham Risk Score and a Coronary Artery Calcium Score (CACS) of zero.
  • Circulation, 2007, (the journal of the AHA): Elevated CRP was associated with increased risk of CVD and all cause mortality only in those with increased carotid intima media thickness (CIMT). Carotid IMT is a reliable and strong predictor of future stroke and myocardial infarction [heart attack]
  • American Heart Journal, 2006: The Screening for Heart Attack Prevention and Education (SHAPE) Task Force guideline sought to reduce the burden of unpredicted cardiovascular events (acute coronary syndromes and sudden cardiac death) in the apparently healthy population by recommending coronary artery calcification determined by recommending computed tomography (CT) scan (CACS), and carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) evaluation.

The SphygmoCor CP Pulse Wave Analysis determines the actual blood pressure that your heart pumps against, and your brain, kideys and other organs experience.  This central blood pressure is a much better predictor of your risk for having a stroke or heart attack.  This critical data is not available by standard brachial blood pressure cuff measurements.  The test is painless and non-invasive.   Using a highly sensitive pressure transducer held against the patient’s pulse (applanation tonometry), the pressure wave exiting the heart is captured and analyzed through a complex algorithm.  This identifies the central aortic pressure, determines the portion of the pressure attributable to diseased or stiffened arteries, the relative workload of the heart, and the ratio between the heart’s demand for oxygen and the available supply.

  • Mayo Clinic Proceedings, May 2010:   Central aortic pressure is a better predictor of cardiovascular outcome than peripheral pressure.
  • Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Oct 2009:   The Strong Heart Study concluded this and other recent studies provide strong evidence for the superiority of central blood pressure, particularly pulse pressure, to brachial blood pressure in correlation with subclinical vascular disease and association with cardiovascular events.

The LPP or VAP cholesterol test measures everything in a standard lipid panel plus cholesterol subclasses, particle sizes, and emerging risk factors, Lipoprotein (a) and Apolipoprotein B.   The VAP or LPP expanded lipid profile includes indicators of chronic inflammation such as, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and homocysteine, and provides an even more accurate and sophisticated analysis of lipid parameters including cardiac biomarkers of heart failure (NT-proBNP), and the Apo E genotype. The additional information provided by the LPP or VAP expanded lipid profile can improve the ability to predict the risk of patients developing cardiovascular disease from about 40 percent to over 90 percent

Combining the risk factor analysis of the VAP expanded blood panel with the HeartSmartIMTplus direct measurement of the carotid arterial wall thickness gives the most comprehensive assessment of an individual’s risk for a future cardiovascular event.

Program components may include:

Frequently asked questions about Carotid Artery Intima Media Thickness testing

Diagram and sample view of Carotid IMT test

The Alternity Healthcare Programs are designed to assist you in recognizing and implementing lifestyle modifications to mitigate current diseases and reduce your future risk of degenerative diseases that may impact the quality of your life. We are happy to share the results of your evaluation at Alternity Healthcare with your primary care physician and work collaboratively with him/her should you require any additional testing or treatment.