Jun 30, 2008 6:16 pm US/Mountain
Health Experts Question If New CT Scans Are Better
DENVER (CBS4) ―
The U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other country with much of that cost driven by the newest and most expensive technology, but some experts are wondering if a new heart scanner is actually better.
With the traditional angiogram patients have a catheter threaded up their thigh to their heart arteries. Doctors then squirt in some dye and look for blockages.
With the new technology, dye is shot into the arm and pictures are taken with a CAT scanner. It takes 12 seconds to do the test. A CT scan creates an image of a beating heart by combining a series of X-rays and a clear look at a patient's arteries, which is useful when heart disease is suspected.
"I don't have any patient in whose case the CT scan made any difference in saving someone's life," said Dr. Stephen Siegel, a cardiologist.
That's a problem since the jury is still out if the non-invasive scans are good for screening people who have no symptoms of heart disease. The scans may be quick and painless, but they cost anywhere from $500 to $1,500. Plus the amount a radiation from a single scan is the equivalent of more than 1,000 conventional chest X-rays.
"Most importantly, there are no studies proving they're better than older screening methods, including stress tests," CBS4 Medical Editor Dr. Dave Hnida said.
Each machine costs around a $1 million and some say that could be an incentive to use scans for general and worthless screenings in people without symptoms or risk factors.
"It's a new technology. It's a wonderful test," Siegel said. "The question is we have to find the best applications for it."
Marketing the test to the general public, especially as a screening tool, may not be the best or safest use of health care dollars.
If the test does find a blockage the patient often needs to go have the conventional angiogram done to open the blockage.
"I like the technology but I don't like seeing or hearing radio (and) TV ads saying you need this test done because its as easy as a cholesterol test," Hnida said.
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