News

The Hudson Valley Heart Center, located in Poughkeepsie, New York, has added General Electric's LightSpeed 64-slice VCT (volume computed tomography) imaging  to its arsenal of state-of-the-art technology to provide Mid-Hudson Valley residents with the most advanced cardiovascular care. This technological advance represents an imaging breakthrough in the ability to evaluate, in seconds, the presence or absence of coronary artery or peripheral vascular disease. The Heart Center is the first facility in Dutchess County to provide this extreme level of accuracy in evaluating coronary and peripheral arteries, which in some cases may eliminate the need for cardiac catheterization or other types of more invasive angiography.

"We have amassed a staff of leading experts and provided them with the very best equipment to fight the nation's most deadly disease," comments Dr. Daniel O'Dea, Medical Director of The Heart Center's new CT Suite. The machine provides in-depth, three-dimensional images more quickly and accurately than previous CT Scanning techniques while exposing patients to a lower dose of radiation.  According to Dr. O'Dea, the LightSpeed VCT also provides a clear picture of the amount of calcium build-up in the arteries - information that is critical to determining patients at risk of a heart attack.

The LightSpeed VCT system is the fifth evolution of GE Healthcare's award-winning LightSpeed CT platform, the CT Scanning system that revolutionized the industry in 1998.

About the Hudson Valley Heart Center

The Hudson Valley Heart Center has been working in the region since 1977 to bring the very best cardiovascular medical services to the Hudson Valley. Since then, the number of patients we serve has grown, and so has our network of alliances. The Heart Center is affiliated with Vassar Brothers Medical Center, where Dr. O'Dea is the Chief of Cardiology.  The facility has been listed as  "One of the Top 100 hospitals in the nation" by Modern Healthcare.  In addition, The Heart Center is affiliated with St. Francis Hospital, Northern Dutchess Hospital, St. Luke's/Cornwall Hospital and Sharon Hospital.