Dr. Mushabbar Syed Named Director of Cardiovascular Imaging at Loyola

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- Dr. Mushabbar Syed has been named director of Cardiovascular Imaging at Loyola University Health System. Loyola offers cardiovascular patients state-of-the-art echocardiography and nuclear imaging, along with newer imaging technologies including CT and MRI scans. Loyola is buying a 1.5 Tesla MRI scanner dedicated to cardiovascular imaging, in addition to its current 3 Tesla MRI scanner. Loyola also is hiring a PhD physicist/scientist who will support the use of MRI scans in patient care and research. The Cardiovascular Imaging program will conduct clinical trials and train residents. Next year, Loyola will become one of the few centers in the country to offer an advanced fellowship in cardiovascular imaging. "New imaging modalities provide higher diagnostic value than traditional imaging, with the hope of better clinical outcomes," Syed said. Syed is an associate professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, and Department of Radiology, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Syed was recruited to Loyola from the University of Kentucky College Of Medicine in Lexington, where he was an associate professor of medicine and director of Cardiovascular CT and MR Imaging. He received training in advanced cardiovascular imaging at the National Institutes of Health and also served as director of Cardiac Imaging at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. Cardiologists have long used echocardiograms and nuclear cardiac scans to diagnose and treat heart conditions. In recent years, cardiologists also have begun using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computerized tomography (CT) scans. MRI and CT scans produce 3-D images of the heart that have much higher resolutions than echocardiograms. MRIs can be used to, for example, help plan an ablation procedure to treat an irregular heartbeat, determine what is causing a patient's heart failure or quantify the amount of muscle damaged in a heart attack. CT scans can confirm or rule out coronary artery blockages in low- and moderate-risk patients, Syed said.