Jennifer Matthews: Doctor Rodney Rea no longer comes to the office as the doctor. Now, he's the patient. Doctor Rea has heart disease. His dad died from a heart attack at 54. He's 53.
Rodney Rea: I came in because I had silent disease and was afraid.
Jennifer Matthews: Doctor Rea goes through a test called CTA every three months to get a close look at his heart. It's a non-invasive test that takes about 30 seconds. During the test, the heart is imaged in 16 different slices. The pictures reveal both soft and hard plaque that can lead to a heart attack.
Rodney Rea: It's not a bad test to go through at all.
Jennifer Matthews: The images are then transferred to a computer where Doctor Steven Strobbe can read them and show the patient what is happening in their heart.
Dr. Steven Strobbe: This is the most exciting thing about medicine right now in diagnosing of coronary and any other vascular disease.
Jennifer Matthews: Doctor Strobbe can see inside the arteries and see blockages that other more invasive tests might miss.
Steven Strobbe: You're showing a patient a disease process that is a progressive disease.
Jennifer Matthews: Today, the news for Doctor Rea is not good.
Rodney Rea: You're starting to develop some soft plaque; there's where it is, and if you look here -- you see it there? Yeah. Same spot.
Jennifer Matthews: The treatment -- a healthier lifestyle.
Rodney Rea: I would rather be aware because nothing's worse than the fear of the unknown.
Jennifer Matthews: And now that he knows, he's motivated to be healthier. This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.
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