AR Gould Hospital Expands Heart Care Services

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) - Northern Light AR Gould Hospital is now offering a new test aimed at improving heart care in Aroostook County. The test, called a coronary CTA, is an imaging scan that shows whether buildup has narrowed the arteries supplying blood to your heart.

Doctors at AR Gould say long wait times and limited access to specialists has made it harder for patients in the County to get timely care. They say this new test will help speed up the process of evaluating and triaging patients who come in with chest pain.

“We are able to look at, with high resolution, our patients’ coronary arteries or the arteries that supply oxygen to a patient’s heart which helps us to determine 1^st of all if they’re at risk for coronary artery disease and then actually see if there are areas of narrowing of those coronary arteries that might require to be treated or intervened upon. This is a test that’s really meant for people who have chest pain that’s not really fitting the box and so it helps us to, hopefully for patients, exclude coronary artery disease. I have had a couple of patients for whom a coronary CTA has been a lifesaver. It’s led to different procedures so that they can move on with their lives,” said Alan Mautz M.D., the Lead Radiologist at AR Gould Hospital.

AR Gould performed its first coronary CTA on March 25th. Officials say the hospital is now able to provide the test because of collaboration with cardiology, specialized staff training, and a new CT machine.