Heart Score Saves Lives
Rush-Copley’s Heart CT Score test is currently available for the special price of $99. The stories below tell how two area residents took the test and were saved from suffering a major heart attack.
Saving Lives
Rush-Copley’s Heart Score Test Helped to Prevent Yorkville Man from Suffering ‘Severe Heart Attack’
Yorkville resident, John James’ wife saw an ad for a Heart CT scan, called a Heart Score, being offered at Rush-Copley last February. She encouraged her husband to take advantage of the special price and go to the hospital for the test.
John and Pamela James
Using a state-of-the-art 64-slice CT scanning technology, the physicians at Rush-Copley were able to view a 3-D image of John’s heart, which enabled them to detect a relatively high degree of calcification in his arteries. Due to the high calcium levels discovered, John was asked to return for additional testing.
Jaweed Sayeed, M.D., a cardiologist at Rush-Copley, reviewed John’s case and found that he had three arterial blockages, one at 95 percent blockage. Two stents urgently needed to be placed in his heart to restore normal blood flow.
“John was a heart attack waiting to happen,” said Dr. Sayeed. “If he had not come in for the Heart Score test, John may have suffered a severe heart attack.”
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. for both men and women. In fact, up to 35 percent of people who experience a heart attack have no previous symptoms. That’s why prevention and early detection are the best ways to reduce risks associated with heart disease.
“I have recommended this test to everyone I know,” said John. “I believe it saved my life and could help save someone else’s life, too.”
From the May 23, 2007 edition of The Beacon News:
He Would Have Had No Warning
Prompted by a Beacon News story, former area basketball coach Don Holler had his heart tested. It’s a decision that ultimately saved the 71-year-old Oswego man’s life.
Holler, 71, underwent the Heart Score test in March, and didn’t expect much less than a perfect score, considering “exercise has been a part of my daily routine for the past 35 or 40 years.” he said.
His score was more than 1,000. He failed a stress test. And other procedures that produced image of his heart indicated “high” levels of blockage, according to his surgeon, Dr. Todd Guynn.
Holler underwent quintuple bypass surgery at Rush-Copley on May 11.
Holler is still a bit dumbfounded at the discovery – “It’s an absolute miracle,“ he said – but in no way is it uncommon for presumably healthy people to fall victim to heart attacks.