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Risks
By Mayo Clinic staffBecause CT angiograms use an X-ray machine to take pictures of your heart, you will be exposed to some radiation during the test. The amount of radiation varies depending on the type of machine used. With the most common type of X-ray machines, the radiation you're exposed to during the test is about the same as the average American is naturally exposed to over three years. The risk that you could develop cancer from the radiation you receive during a CT angiogram is not known exactly, but is very small.
Because radiation can harm an unborn child, you shouldn't have a CT angiogram if you're pregnant.
It's also possible that you could have an allergic reaction to the dye used in the procedure. Talk to your doctor if you're concerned about having an allergic reaction.
- Cardiac CT. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/ct/ct_all.html. Accessed March 9, 2011.
- Gerber TC, et al. Noninvasive coronary angiography with cardiac computed tomography and cardiovascular magnetic resonance. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 9, 2011.
- Bluemke DA, et al. Noninvasive coronary artery imaging: Magnetic resonance angiography and multidetector computed tomography angiography: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association Committee on Cardiovascular Imaging and Intervention of the Council on Cardiovascular Radiology and Intervention, and the Councils on Clinical Cardiology and Cardiovascular Disease in the Young. Circulation. 2008;118:586.
- Gerber TC, et al. Ionizing radiation in cardiac imaging: A science advisory from the American Heart Association Committee on Cardiac Imaging of the Council on Clinical Cardiology and Committee on Cardiovascular Imaging and Intervention of the Council on Cardiovascular Radiology and Intervention. Circulation. 2009;119:1056.
- Risk factors and coronary heart disease. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4726. Accessed March 9, 2011.
- Achenbach S, et al. Is CT the better angiogram? Coronary interventions and CT imaging. Journal of the American College of Cardiology Cardiovascular Imaging. 2010;3:29.
- Taylor AJ, et al. ACCF/SCCT/ACR/AHA/ASE/ASNC/NASCI/SCAI/SCMR 2010 appropriate use criteria for cardiac computed tomography: A report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation Appropriate Use Criteria Task Force, the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography, the American College of Radiology, the American Heart Association, the American Society of Echocardiography, the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, the North American Society for Cardiovascular Imaging, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, and the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. Circulation. 2010;122:525.
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