Forum Health Integrative Medicine Podcast · Forum Health

The Cleerly Scan: Seeing Heart Disease Before It Strikes

·28 min·1 clip

A man with “very good” cholesterol had 90% blockage in one artery and 75% in the LAD.

1. Forum Health Integrative Medicine Podcast focuses on the Clearly scan and early heart disease detection. 2. Amanda Grabeau hosts the episode, and Michael Sermon is a board-certified physician assistant in cardiometabolic and preventative cardiovascular care at Forum Health Madison. 3. The episode asks whether an AI-assisted coronary CT angiogram can show plaque before a heart attack or stroke happens. 4. Sermon says heart disease is still the number one killer of Americans, even when LDL cholesterol is lowered. 5. He says risk assessment has to include age, sex, ethnicity, genetics, and family history, not only cholesterol. 6. He also lists modifiable factors such as smoking, exercise, diet, blood pressure, and weight management. 7. Sermon says he has seen patients with excellent cholesterol panels who still had moderate to severe plaque on imaging. 8. He also says he has seen patients with poor cholesterol panels and “squeaky clean vessels” on imaging. 9. He describes the Clearly scan as a tool he has used for about four to five years. 10. He says the technology uses a standard coronary CT angiogram and AI software to create 3D images and measure plaque burden. 11. Sermon says the scan can distinguish calcified plaque from soft, non-calcified plaque. 12. He explains that non-calcified plaque can be unstable and rupture through the endothelium. 13. He links that rupture risk to sudden events like stroke or heart attack. 14. Sermon says a major role of the scan is to help clinicians decide whether a cardiologist should place a stent or recommend surgery. 15. He shares a case of a healthy-lifestyle man in his upper fifties who mentioned exercise chest pressure at the end of a visit. 16. That patient’s scan and cardiology review found about 90% blockage in one artery and about 70% to 75% blockage in the LAD. 17. The interview style is conversational, practical, and heavily centered on patient examples. 18. The energy stays clinician-to-clinician and prevention-focused, with repeated emphasis on collaboration with cardiology. 19. Patients worried about hidden heart risk despite normal labs. 20. Listeners wanting a disease-specific discussion without medical detail.

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