Emphasis on Prevention

Heart attacks, strokes (brain attacks) and abdominal aortic aneurysms don't usually announce themselves with obvious symptoms. And it's often not until an aneurysm ruptures or a heart or brain attack occurs that these silent "stalkers" can be heard.

Early detection of vascular disease is what the USC University Hospital's Vascular Screening Program is designed to do. This program is part of the USCUH emphasis on disease prevention and unlike some other medical testing programs that focus solely on heart health, our program assesses various vascular conditions that may develop from poor diet, elevated cholesterol levels, smoking and heredity risk factors.

The importance of a comprehensive risk assessment for vascular disease takes on even greater weight because of the sheer numbers of people impacted by it – according to the American Heart Association, more than 60 million Americans currently have one or more types of cardiovascular disease, and in 1998 alone, these diseases accounted for 40% of all deaths in the country.

Early Detection Can Save a Life

The Vascular Screening Program forms part of the first line of defense against a variety of traffic jams in the body's transportation system. Administered to patients with no symptoms of cardiovascular disease, it looks to determine a person's risk for hypertension, an abdominal aortic aneurysm (a weakness or ballooning of the aorta walls), carotid artery disease (which may lead to a stroke) and coronary artery disease (which may lead to a heart attack).

These screenings help detect a patient's risk at an earlier stage, i.e. before cardiovascular disease symptoms occur. With early detection, you may protect yourself against these disabling – and often fatal – diseases.

Many of the patients screened by our program get a clean bill of health or learn that their risk is low and can be reduced with proper diet, medications and exercise. However, up to 2 percent of the screenings yield results that point to the need for major medical intervention, including surgery. These results can be further confirmed by more complex exams such as angiography or CT scan.

Unlike some other screening programs, the Vascular Screening Program at USC University Hospital is administered by Registered Vascular Technologists and reviewed by Board-certified USC physicians. The screenings are conducted at the USC University Hospital Non-Invasive Vascular Laboratory, which is accredited by the ICAVL (Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Vascular Laboratories).

At USC University Hospital, the Vascular Screening Program utilizes advanced ultrasound technology for the direct evaluation of arteries, which combines three modalities:

1) B-mode ultrasound provides anatomical information about a blood vessel. This modality allows to determine the presence of plaque as well as thickness and bulging of arteries.

2) Doppler ultrasound provides physiological information about blood flow in a vessel. It determines whether an atherosclerotic plaque is compromising blood flow.

3) Colorflow ultrasound provides the ability to visualize the blood flow in a vessel and determine the degree of obstruction, if any, by plaque.

These non-invasive screenings do not involve needles or catheters and are easy and painless, and take less than an hour to complete. Since the program's inception in 1995, thousands of individuals have undergone these screenings which led to the detection of many problems that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.

Available Screenings

An ultrasound assessment of the carotid arteries in the neck is performed to check for plaque formation (atherosclerosis). These arteries provide blood supply to the brain, face, and skull. Significant plaque growth in carotid arteries can compromise blood flow to the brain and may put the person at risk for a stroke.

This ultrasound test of the abdominal aorta checks for aneurysm development. A bulging or ballooning at a weak point of an artery, aneurysm is most commonly caused by disease, injury or congenital defect. With the abdominal aorta functioning as the main blood supply source for the abdomen and legs, abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture often results in a fatal outcome.

Researched by USC researchers in collaboration with scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, this test uses ultrasound to map, measure and analyze the thickness of the first two layers of the carotid artery wall, the intima and the media.

The IMT measurement indirectly indicates the presence of coronary atherosclerosis – even in its early stages, before it starts to block blood flow in the artery. When performed over time, IMT measurements can reliably assess the progression or regression of this condition.

The measurement of true blood pressure is difficult due to many factors, which include variations from anxiety or other emotional stress, technical error, or simply from the inherent inaccuracy of the standard measuring methods. Consequently, the diagnosis of hypertension – a condition that reflects high blood pressure and is the leading cause of heart attacks and strokes – is just as difficult.

The most reliable method to represent an individual's true blood pressure and thus accurately diagnose hypertension is to evaluate a large number of blood pressure measurements during the course of a person's regular day. Our Vascular Screening Program uses this method and employs non-invasive blood pressure monitors to obtain measurements every 30-60 minutes during a 24-hour period. The obtained results, in conjunction with a 24-hour diary, are then used to determine a person's risk for true hypertension.

If you are concerned about your risk for vascular disease and would like to schedule your diagnostic screening test(s), or would like more information about the USC University Hospital Vascular Screening Program, please call (800) USC-CARE.