Following the visit of cardiac application specialist from Siemens for training and thorough volunteer testing, San Patricio MRI & CT Center launched its formal Cardiac MRI program under the leadership of Cardiovascular radiologist Dr. Frances Aulet Morales.  Dr. Aulet completed a minifellowship in Cardiac MRI and Cardiac CTA at the University of Pennsylvania and is in charge of the new Cardiac MRI division at SPMRICTC.

During early March, SPMRICTC sponsored Dr. Harold Litt, Assistant Professor of Radiology in Medicine and Chief of the Cardiovascular Imaging section of the Department of Radiology of the University of Pennsylvania to present a lecture on MRI of Ischemic and Non-Ischemic Heart Disease to which well over 20 local cardiologists attended.

While new in Puerto RIco, Cardiac MRI is not a newcomer in the rest of the world where it has been established as a robust noninvasive imaging alternative that for the most part serves as a problem solver when other imaging modalities do not provide a definitive answer.  However, it provides accuracy and benefits over other modalities that may prove that cardiac MRI may be the modality of choice in the future for most cardiac applications.  Please refer to the articles section for more details.

San Patricio MRI & CT Center has been a participating site for the NOPR ever since the first day of its inception back in 2006.  This program is for Medicare patients and any Medicare Advantage patients who have any type of cancer currently not covered officially by Medicare (with a few special exceptions) rendering them elegible for a PET-CT scan.  The referring physician must fill a brief questionnaire before and following the PET-CT scan and our staff will take care of registering the data in the internet as well as paying the required processing fee.  Please spread the word about the NOPR program as it is not widely known by physicians nor patients and the program will not last indefinitely.  Many patients have benefited from this program at San Patricio MRI & CT Center.