Coronary artery disease (CAD), the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, claims nearly one million lives annually and is estimated to cost nearly $150 billion per year.

Investigators at the Health Research and Education Center (HREC) at WSU Spokane are attempting to moderate those sobering statistics. Knowing that in most cases of CAD the first sign is a catastrophic event, such as a heart attack, which results in damage to the heart, they have developed a safe, reliable, noninvasive approach to early detection of CAD in men and women, especially those with risk factors for the disease, before they have a heart attack.


Leonardo da Vinci’s sketches showing the distribution of the coronary vessels,
viewed from different aspects. His observations were based on dissection of the ox heart.


Their breakthrough research uses a high-tech, ultrafast computed tomography (CT) scanning machine to measure calcium deposits in coronary arteries. During the eight-minute procedure, patients lie on their backs while a giant doughnut-shaped X-ray machine shoots electron beams through the heart. The scanner produces detailed computer images of the chest cavity. Any calcium buildup in the heart or surrounding arteries appears quite plainly as tiny white clumps. Research has shown that the ultrafast scanner is more than 95 percent accurate in documenting coronary artery disease. The procedure has been endorsed by the American Heart Association.

“There is a strong link between such calcium deposits and coronary artery disease,” says HREC director C. Harold Mielke, M.D. Researchers are looking at coronary artery disease risk factors to develop profiles of people who are at the highest risk for the disease. The Spokane Heart Study, a 10-year longitudinal study currently in its fifth year, enrolls more than 850 men and women aged 30 to 85. In addition to having the CT scan done every two years and providing information on personal and family medical history, study subjects undergo measurement of their blood lipids and analyses of their diet, level of exercise, and mental state. Partners in the study include Deaconess Medical Center, Sacred Heart Medical Center, and the Heart Institute of Spokane.

Study goals also include identifying and evaluating new risk factors for the development of CAD. Preliminary study findings were presented at the American Federation for Clinical Research in Washington, D.C. Researchers hope that by determining the most significant risk factors associated with the presence and progression of CAD, practitioners will be able to accurately identify those individuals who are at high risk and to initiate appropriate medical and lifestyle changes before heart problems develop. “This not only will save the health care system billions of dollars, but will also save patients from the debilitating and life-threatening effects of progressive coronary heart disease,” says Mielke.

— Lori Olson