Heart Scanner Stirs New Hope and a Debate
Friday, November 19th, 2004 at 3:56 pm
We need one of these installed at Triage… With all the BS chest pains that we get, it would certainly help in weeding them out 
What if doctors had a new way to diagnose heart disease that took only seconds and provided pictures so clear it showed every clogged artery, so detailed that it was like holding a living heart in your hand?
In fact, that new way exists and is coming into use in scattered areas of the country, and there is wide agreement that it will revolutionize cardiology.
The scans can largely replace diagnostic angiograms, the expensive, onerous way of looking for blockages in arteries, and can make diagnosis so easy that doctors would not hesitate to use them. They are expected to cost about $700, compared with about $4,000 for an angiogram.
Moreover, the scans take seconds to conduct and require no recuperation time; angiograms take nearly an hour and patients must stay in the hospital for a day. The new scans can see not just the outline of blood vessels but every detail inside and out.
Read more at the New York Times
Email to Friend
Print
Permalink
Filed under: 
i think this could be really helpful. but i can see the money sharks not approving. i mean, don’t you think a pt might be happier paying the doctor’s bill if the procedures done were cheaper?