POSTED: 5:53 p.m. PDT August 26, 2003

Micki Flowers
KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Health Reporter

New research gives thumbs up to a remarkable heart scan technology for predicting who will have a deadly heart attack -- years before symptoms show up.

MORE ON THIS STORY Swedish Medical Center Find "EBT Heart Screening" under the "Guide to Services Radiological Society of North America

Heart attack is the number one killer of both men and women. Doctors here hope a new diagnostic tool will change that.

A heart scan -- also known as electron beam tomography -- can find clogged arteries before the patient ever has any symptoms. That means high risk patients can be identified much sooner.

In a five-minute, painless procedure, the heart scan uses X-rays to take ultra-fast images of the arteries of the heart and scout out the first sign of calcium buildup.

The scan picks up white specks, which are a sign of dangerous plaque build-up, which can rupture and cause a stroke or heart attack.

Heart specialist Dr. Gary Oppenheim said new research shows it's a critically important predictor.

"[It's] one important predictor of death within five years in patients with no symptoms," said Dr. Oppenheim, with Swedish Heart Institute.

A large study, which observed more than 10,000 patients, found coronary artery calcium screening gives doctors an important new tool over traditional risk factors.

It might have been lifesaver for Dr. Pete McLean. He had no symptoms of heart disease, but diabetes and other things put him at risk.

"Things like hypertension, elevated cholesterol and a family history of coronary disease," Dr. McLean said.

The heart scan showed massive calcium deposits, which lead to more diagnostic tests.

"And two days later, I had coronary artery bypass surgery."

Dr. Oppenheim says very soon the American Heart Association is expected to recommend that people with risk factors for heart disease be considered for electron beam tomography. Right now it's usually not convered by insurance. The test costs about $550.