• are pregnant
• have an allergy to contrast dye
• have kidney problems (you may need special preparation).

• Do not eat or drink anything for 4 hours before the scan.
   
  
• Do not consume caffeine after midnight the night before the scan.
  
  
• Take your regular medicines with small sips of water the morning of your scan, unless your doctor tells you otherwise.
   
  
• If you have diabetes, do not take your insulin or diabetes pills the morning of the scan.
   
  
• If you have not had a creatinine blood test in the past one month, you will need one before the scan. This is a test that measures kidney function. Have this blood test at the office of the doctor who ordered the coronary CT angiogram scan. If this has not been drawn, it will be drawn upon arrival for the scan.
  
  
• If you are a woman of child-bearing age, please tell the nurse or technologist if you may be pregnant.
  
  
• A nurse will take a brief medical history.
  
  
• For clear images, a heart rate of less than 60 beats per minute is needed. If your heart rate is more than 60, you will need to take a beta-blocker. If you are already taking a beta-blocker, you may or may not need another dose.
  
  
• An IV line will be started in your arm.
  
  
• You will need to wait in the CT area before the scan.
  
  
• The nurse or technologist will answer any questions you have.

• You will be asked to lie still on a narrow table.
  
  
• The table will be circled by a large doughnut-shaped machine. This opening is much larger than an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine.
  
  
• The technologist will tell you about the scan and answer your questions.
  
  
• You will be asked to hold your breath for a brief time. Lying still during the scan is important.
  
  
• If your heart rate is more than 60 beats a minute, the nurse may need to give you more beta-blocker through the IV.
  
  
• The doctor may ask the nurse to give you a nitroglycerin sublingual tablet right before the images are taken. He or she will explain this to you.
  
  
• The contrast dye will be injected through the IV. You may feel a warmth or flushing right after the contrast is injected.

• You will sit in a waiting area for about 15 minutes to make sure you do not have a reaction to the contrast dye.
  
  
• Your IV will be removed upon discharge.
  
  
• You may return to your regular activity and diet after the scan. Drink four to six glasses of water. This will help flush the contrast dye from your system.
  
  
• You may drive home.
  
  
• If you take metformin or any medicine that contains metformin (Glucophage®, Glucovance®, Metaglip™ or Avandamet®) for diabetes, do not take it for 48 hours after the scan.

CT Scan Results

• The cardiologist will read your scan. He or she will give the results to the doctor who ordered the scan within 3 business days. If the results show that treatment is needed soon, the cardiologist will call the doctor with the scan results the same day.
  
  
• Call your doctor who ordered the coronary CT angiogram to get the results.
  
  
• The coronary CT scan also includes a limited chest CT scan. A radiologist reads the results. Be sure to ask the doctor who ordered the scan for these chest CT results.

Other tests for this sub-specialty

• Cardiovascular MRI
• Echocardiogram 
• Exercise Stress Testing
• HeartScan (Electron Beam Coronary Calcium Scoring)
• MUGA Scan (Radionuclide Angiogram)
• Mycardial Perfusion Scan 
• Stress Echocardiogram
• Transesophageal Echocardiogram