New imaging technique may diagnose heart risk early on

A prescription to buy Plavix can effectively reduce a person's risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke, but determining which patients are at risk in the first place can be a challenge for doctors.

In order to address this problem, a team of investigators from the Lawson Health Research Institute and the Robarts Research Institute in London developed a new imaging technique that can diagnose extremely low levels of impaired vascular function.

"This new technique could play an important role in the evaluation of the likelihood of future cardiac events in patients with intermediate to advanced risk of coronary artery disease, allowing timely and appropriate intervention," the researchers wrote in their report describing the technique, which was published in the journal European Radiology.

The imaging technique is based on traditional CT scans. However, it is capable of delivering much higher levels of clarity in the small arteries that often become clogged, leading to heart attacks or strokes.

By allowing doctors to more accurately determine which patients are at risk for suffering a cardiovascular event, doctors may be able to provide individuals with a prescription to buy Plavix at an early stage, significantly reducing their odds.