--- title: Combination CT Scans May Make Heart Tests Easier description: Heart disease is a nasty enough problem. It would be nice if the tests you have to go through just to get your diagnosis didn't... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7143487/combination-ct-scans-may-make-heart-tests-easier/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2010-11-17T16:02:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-25T05:43:18.455Z article:section: Health og:title: Combination CT Scans May Make Heart Tests Easier og:description: Heart disease is a nasty enough problem. It would be nice if the tests you have to go through just to get your diagnosis didn't... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7143487/combination-ct-scans-may-make-heart-tests-easier/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta440f9c1dc3ae641/698a951c9d83e8181bba0653/ctcropped.jpg?branch=production&width=307&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 307 og:image:height: 173 og:image:alt: 98875862 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Combination CT Scans May Make Heart Tests Easier twitter:description: Heart disease is a nasty enough problem. It would be nice if the tests you have to go through just to get your diagnosis didn't... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta440f9c1dc3ae641/698a951c9d83e8181bba0653/ctcropped.jpg?branch=production&width=307&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # Combination CT Scans May Make Heart Tests Easier > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. 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It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=e85617c4-9645-400a-acc3-57a74cc31126&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Nov 17, 2010 4:02 PM UTC  Calcium Score Testing CAT Scan Computer Tomography Calcium Score Testing CAT Scan Computer Tomography Getty Images/Flickr RF by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Nov 17, 2010 4:02 PM UTC Heart disease is a nasty enough problem. It would be nice if the tests you have to go through just to get your diagnosis didn’t cause so much unpleasantness of their own. Now they may not have to, thanks to a combination CT scan developed by doctors at Johns Hopkins University.more Typically, patients with suspected arterial blockage undergo either a two-hour SPECT scan, in which a radioactive dye is injected into the body, or an angiogram, in which a catheter is threaded into the heart vessels. In a paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, the Hopkins team described how a pair of noninvasive CT scans — one that detects plaque buildup and one that measures blood or flow — can be nearly as accurate as either traditional test. (**More on Time.com:** [6 Common Sources of Radiation In Your Life](http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/14/do-you-know-how-much-radiation-youre-getting/)) The new system comes up short in some categories — detecting only 71% of the cases of reduced blood flow that SPECT does and 90% of the severely clogged arteries spotted by a combination SPECT and angiogram, for example. But the brevity of the scans — about 30 mins. — and their low radiation level are big advantages. The CTs could also help prevent the 250,00 or so catheterizations that take place each year to fix blockages that turn out not to exist. **More on Time.com:** [Can Heart Attacks Be Predicted With a Blood Test?](http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/04/predicting-heart-attack-with-a-blood-test/) [How Not to Get Sick](http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1903873,00.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7143487/combination-ct-scans-may-make-heart-tests-easier/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7143487/combination-ct-scans-may-make-heart-tests-easier/"},"headline":"Combination CT Scans May Make Heart Tests Easier","datePublished":"2010-11-17T16:02:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-25T05:43:18.455Z","description":"Heart disease is a nasty enough problem. 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