Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth announced today that it has acquired a new, innovative CT imaging system. The 64-slice CT scanner is the world’s first Volume Computed Tomography (VCT) system. Baylor All Saints now offers an innovative way for its physicians to obtain the information they need to diagnose disease and life-threatening illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, stroke and chest pain.
The physicians on the medical staff at Baylor All Saints are now able to capture images of a beating heart in five heartbeats, an organ in one second, and perform whole body trauma in ten seconds, more than twice as fast as conventional multi-slice CT scanners. This speed is especially helpful in shortening breath holds for geriatric patients and patients who are on ventilators. "Our new CT scanner system allows the physicians on our medical staff to perform new and enhanced procedures and obtain the information they need to diagnose patients who are suffering from chest pain or stroke," said Thomas Livingston, M.D., medical director of Radiology, Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth. "The 64-slice CT scanner is patient friendly. Fast scans can help reduce patient stress and anxiety, and some of the CT procedures can be done in only one simple exam."
Baylor All Saints can immediately offer the following innovative procedures to be performed on its new CT scanner:
- 5-Beat Cardiac™ - The physicians on the medical staff at Baylor All Saints can capture images of the whole heart and coronary arteries in just five heartbeats – providing clearer images of cardiovascular anatomy and a shorter breath hold for sick and elderly patients.
- Triple RuleOut™ - Three primary causes of mortality in patients with chest pain are aortic dissection, pulmonary embolism and coronary artery disease. The physicians on the medical staff at Baylor All Saints now have a tool to help them out (or in) these three individual causes of patient’s chest pain through a single quick scan.
- Stroke Work-Up – Once a stroke occurs, it is commonly believed that treatment must be delivered within an hour or less to provide the best outcome for the patient. The CT scanner offers Baylor All Saints the speed and resolution required for rapid imaging of blood vessels in the brain. This enables physicians to make a quick diagnosis and determine the best course of treatment while reducing the number of exams a patient may need to undergo. In a single rotation, the CT scanner creates 64 high-resolution anatomical images as thin as a credit card. These images are combined to form a three-dimensional view of the patient’s anatomy for the physicians at Baylor All Saints to analyze. From these images, physicians can view such things as blockages in the coronary arteries, as well as the motion and pumping action of a patient’s heart.
We are now able to offer new and enhanced diagnostic procedures thanks to our new CT scanner," stated Thomas Livingston, M.D. "The technology is greatly benefiting both the physicians and patients of Fort Worth and its surrounding communities."
The not-for-profit Baylor All Saints Medical Centers serve more than 100,000 people annually through two hospitals, numerous primary care physician centers and practices, a rehabilitation and fitness center, and a variety of medical specialties. Programs of excellence in cardiology, transplantation, neurosciences, oncology and women’s services form the heart of the hospitals’ services. All Saints joined Baylor Health Care System in January 2002. All Saints Health Foundation, a separately incorporated not-for-profit organization, raises and manages charitable funds to support Baylor All Saints Medical Centers. For fiscal year 2007, Baylor Health Care System reported $390 million* in community benefit, which includes providing care for charity patients and patients enrolled in government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, as well as the unreimbursed costs of medical education, research and community programs. For a physician referral, call 1-800-4BAYLOR or use our on-line physician directory.
*Represents preliminary information that will be reported to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Physicians are members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Health Care System’s subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and are neither employees nor agents of those medical centers, Baylor All Saints Medical Center or Baylor Health Care System.
Contact: Mary Johnson, (817) 922-7088 or Sunny Drenik, (817) 922-7100
Email: maryjohn@baylorhealth.edu or sunnydr@baylorhealth.edu
About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform – MyBSWHealth. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com