Health services research agency ECRI forecasts that the utilization of noninvasive CT angiography will increase rapidly over the next five years.
ECRI's Health Technology Forecast, a strategic technology planning resource for healthcare executives, said that multislice CT angiography will be performed more frequently as a complement or replacement for other cardiac examinations such as MRI, nuclear imaging, and diagnostic cardiac catheterization. On the other hand, ECRI expects the number of diagnostic cardiac catheterization procedures to decrease over the next few years, particularly for assessing plaque, stenoses, and myocardial viability, as well as for ruling out atherosclerosis.
The Plymouth Meeting, PA-based agency also predicts that high-volume cardiology departments will increasingly consider purchasing dedicated cardiac CT scanners, as more advanced CT technology, such as the 32- and 40-slice scanners recently introduced at the 2003 RSNA meeting, will increase the range of cardiac imaging applications that can be performed.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writersJanuary 8, 2004
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ECRI enhances manufacturer database, April 4, 2001
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