Imaging utilization in stroke patients is affected by age and imaging capacity, or the number of MRI and CT scanners at any given facility, according to a study in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
Lead author Dr. Max Rosen, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and colleagues included 918 patients at a U.S. hospital and 1,759 patients at a Canadian hospital in the study (JACR, June 2011, Vol. 8:6, pp. 428-435).
The team found that patient age and site (U.S. versus Canada) were significant predictors of MRI use. Scanning utilization varied at hospitals with different access to scanning technologies, the authors wrote: There was less frequent use of MRI scanning at hospitals with limited access to this modality.
The study shows that for patients presenting with symptoms of acute stroke, differences in scanning capacity (CT and MRI) may shape aspects of clinical management, according to the researchers.
