In a move to assuage concerns about radiation dose, a Southern California imaging center is introducing "radiation-free" whole-body screening using MRI rather than CT.
Although the cost of an MRI whole-body scan is $1,200, compared to $975 for a CT scan at the Smart Heart & Health Scan center in Los Angeles, the center’s medical director says the MRI technique is equal to or better than CT in detecting disease in the brain, neck, mediastinum, abdomen, and pelvis.
The only instances where a CT scan is more accurate is in detecting lung disease and coronary artery calcium, according to Dr. Bradley Jabour. In order to assess coronary artery disease, he said, the center offers a cardiac stress echo or a treadmill test -- both effective nonradiation alternatives to CT coronary calcium scoring -- as part of the MRI whole-body scan package.
In order to assess people at high risk for lung cancer, the center offers a combination MRI of the abdomen and pelvis, packaged with a low-dose CT scan of the chest. This hybrid scan costs $1,800. The center doesn’t scan patients under 40. None of the scans is covered by Medicare or private insurance.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
November 27, 2001
Copyright © 2001 AuntMinnie.com
