LIVEWELL MINUTE: 3-D Echo
Cardiovascular diseases are the number one killer of men and women today, claiming about one life every 33 seconds. Before age sixty, one in three men will develop some major cardiovascular disease. For women, the odds are one in ten. With the help of new technology, cardiologists at Iowa Lutheran Hospital are hoping to reduce these unnecessary fatalities.
Dr. Craig Clark, Iowa Health – Des Moines Cardiologist says, “3-D Echo cardiology allows us to look at instantaneous 3-D images of the heart, changing the angle and perspective and allowing us to see the intimate correlation between heart valves, chambers, and major blood vessels.”
Early use by cardiologists at Iowa Health indicates the 3D Echo:
- Helps patients better visualize the nature of their condition;
- Enhances diagnostic capability , reducing or eliminating the need for more expensive or invasive tests and procedures;
- Provides better surgical planning because of improved visualization of the complex anatomy of the heart; and
- Provides live assessment of heart valve function.
Dr. Clark tells us, “This technology offers significant advantages… It allows us to see the heart working in real time, it allows us to make better diagnosis s, it allows us to plan surgeries for patients who need surgeries and hopefully avoid surgeries or invasive procedures in those patients who don’t.”
