Dear Cardiac Imaging Insider,
In a recent AuntMinnie.com article, several proponents of CT coronary artery screening stated that if former President Bill Clinton had only undergone one of their exams, he would have avoided the urgent triple-bypass surgery he recently underwent.
And indeed that's possible, which is why many consumers are choosing to pay out of pocket for heart scans. But the cost of such scans continues to limit their appeal as a mass screening technique, despite the prevalence of heart disease in America.
Is there a less-expensive alternative? How about good-ol' radiography, or more accurately "good-new" radiography?
A new study by researchers at the University Hospitals of Cleveland in Ohio found that a dual-energy subtracted bone image, generated through postprocessing of direct digital radiographs, gives a pretty good visualization of coronary artery calcification. Although the researchers didn't specifically look at CR, they suggested it could also generate similar results.
Our article on this study is this month's Cardiac Imaging Insider Exclusive, made available to you before it is posted on the main AuntMinnie.com Web site. And as always, I welcome your feedback and story ideas on cardiac imaging.
