In time for Heart Month, Sparrow unveils region’s only Cardiac MRI machine 

LANSING, MI – For American Heart Month, Sparrow is promoting a new cardiac tool for patients that are offered nowhere else in Mid-Michigan.

The Cardiac MRI machine takes a comprehensive, thorough look deep into a patient’s heart, allowing our highly skilled physicians to better evaluate the structure and tissue. It’s a major advancement in measuring how the heart is functioning and can uncover issues that other technology can’t. And it’s close to home so that Mid-Michigan residents don’t have to travel outside the area.

Amber Fisher, 31, of Lansing, recently had the procedure when she experienced chest pains and was glad it was available just down the block from her.

“My mother had a massive heart attack at 50 so I was not going to take any chances, and to have this access to this medicine right in my backyard was beyond amazing,” said Fisher, who thankfully was found to have no serious issues.

Christopher Hanson, M.D., a cardiovascular physician at Sparrow TCI, called the Cardiac MRI “one tool in a toolbox of multiple different imaging techniques for patients, from cardiac ultrasounds to nuclear imaging to cardiac CT (scans). It very much complements and completes our cardiac imaging here at Sparrow.”

The Cardiac MRI only recently came to Sparrow but it’s had an immediate impact, Dr. Hanson said.

“We’ve had a number of diagnoses in patients that have really transformed their lives,” he said. “We’re now able to definitively diagnose them with a disease process that they didn’t know they had previously, which allows us to treat them in the best way possible.”

Those interested should speak to their primary care physician or cardiologist.

Sparrow has received national recognition as one of the top hospitals treating heart attack patients.

Sparrow Heart and Vascular Center services include non-invasive testing, Catheterization     Laboratories, and a Cardiac Recovery Unit.

Sparrow Thoracic and Cardiovascular Institute (TCI) is the pre-eminent provider of heart and vascular care in Mid-Michigan, providing highly skilled cardiovascular providers, leading-edge medicine, and groundbreaking cardiac research. For details: tciheart.com or Sparrow.org/Heart-Center.

Sparrow is Mid-Michigan’s premier healthcare organization and includes hospitals in Lansing, Carson City, Charlotte, Ionia, and St. Johns, as well as Sparrow Specialty Hospital, Physicians Health Plan, Sparrow Care Network, Sparrow Medical Group, Michigan Athletic Club, and AL!VE. Sparrow is affiliated with Michigan Medicine through the Sparrow Children’s Center and with Michigan State University’s three human health colleges. Through these partnerships and the dedication of our 10,000 Caregivers, Sparrow pursues a vision to be nationally recognized as a leader in quality and Patient experience. For more information, visit sparrow.org.