Private MD News
Home |
News |
Heart Health and Cholesterol
CT scan the most accurate non-invasive test for heart disease, study conclu
Updated: 2010-02-02 19:02:05 CST Category: Heart Health and Cholesterol
by Alex Schoenfeld
German researchers have recently conducted a study which suggests that a computed tomography (CT) scan is a more accurate non-invasive test than a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan in diagnosing coronary artery disease.
The traditional technique for identifying heart disease is a coronary angiography, which involves threading a catheter into the heart, a dangerous procedure that doctors use as sparingly as possible, according to Health Day.
Georg Schuetz of the Charite Medical School in Berlin, Germany, and his colleagues studied the results of over 8,500 patients with suspected heart disease who had received either a CT or an MRI exam. The researchers found that CT scans correctly identified the disease in 97 percent of patients, while MRI scans were only 87 percent accurate.
"For imaging of the cardiac arteries, CT is more robust," said Ricardo Cury, director of cardiac MRI and CT at Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute in Miami, quoted by the news source. "We perform MRI on a clinical basis more for functional assessment, as opposed to looking at the coronary arteries."
The results of the study are published in the February 2 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Related Articles from Private MD:
Share on Facebook
Subscribe to Private MD Health News RSS Feed: 
News Categories:
Advanced Lipid Treatment I
Allergy Testing
Anemia and RBC disorders
Autoimmune Diseases
Bariatric Lab Testing
Blood and Blood Diseases
Breast
Cancer Detection and Tumor Markers
Celiac Disease Testing
Chlamydia
Coagulation and blood clotting disorders
Colon
Diabetes
DNA, Paternity and Genetic testing
Drug Screening
Environmental Toxin Testing
Female Specific Tests
Gastrointestinal Diseases
General Health
General Wellness
Heart Health and Cholesterol
Herpes
HIV
HIV monitoring/Treatment/Testing/Post Diagnos
Hormones and Metabolism
Infectious Diseases
Infertility Testing-Male
Infertitlity Hormone Testing
Kidney Diseases
Leukemia and WBC disorders
Liver
Liver Diseases
Lyme Disease
Male Specific Tests
Menopause/Peri-Menopausal Diagnosis
Organ Specific Testing
Ovarian
Prostate
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Thyroid Diseases
Vitamin D Deficiency-Diagnosis and Treatment
Visit the Health News Archive: Click Here
Questions about online blood testing or how to order a lab test? Click
here to get started or call us toll-free at
1.877.283.7882. Our certified professionals are ready to assist
you.