Family’s Heart Scans Reveal Hidden Blockages, Prompt Life-Saving Surgeries
After a cardiac CT scan showed severe artery blockages in his brother, a Tampa man urged his siblings to be tested, leading all five brothers to undergo heart surgery.
Kevin Murray, a 72-year-old from Tampa who once faced a near-fatal heart condition, underwent a cardiac CT scan that showed no issues for him but sparked worries about his relatives. His brother Patrick, experiencing fatigue and breathing trouble, received the same imaging in late 2022 and was found to have significant arterial blockages, leading to urgent open-heart surgery. Encouraged by this outcome, the remaining brothers—Larry, Michael and Tim—also had the scan, each discovering advanced coronary disease that required corrective operations.
All five men were treated by Dr. Alberto Morales, who uses Arineta’s SpotLight CT system, and they now attend routine appointments with him. Experts highlighted the test’s ability to detect silent disease early, likening it to a mammogram for the heart, and stressed the importance of screening when family history is strong. The brothers credit the technology for averting potentially fatal events and continue to promote cardiac CT screening within their extended family.