Dear CT Insider,
Triple rule-out CT, which extends the typical coronary CT angiography (CCTA) scan upward to include the thoracic aorta, has been praised for its ability to find noncoronary abnormalities -- and panned for its extra radiation and contrast doses.
But until now the triple rule-out scan hasn't been examined in large series of patients to determine how often the extra scan coverage is needed to determine the cause of acute chest pain. So researchers at the University of Pennsylvania took it on as a 10-year project to learn how often the triple rule-out was key to the diagnosis, or helpful for finding other serious disease. Learn what they found in nearly 1,200 patients in our CT Insider Exclusive.
In another heart study, cardiologists studying large numbers of patients with stable chest pain have come down in favor of CCTA for the initial workup of stable chest pain patients, saying that CT brings the benefits of nuclear cardiology without the hefty radiation dose in most patients. Echo and treadmill have their places too, in a study you'll find here.
Time to treatment is the watchword for ischemic stroke patients, meaning how fast doctors can treat clots in the brain is everything. Except that time is no longer everything, according to Stanford University researchers, who found that getting a perfusion CT scan on admission to the hospital is what really matters in terms of outcomes. Really? Click here to learn more.
In colon cancer screening, one would think radiologists could be counted on to support CT colonography -- and they often do except for their own screening needs, according to a survey at a large academic center. Why do radiologists frequently prefer invasive optical colonoscopy for themselves? Find out by clicking here.
In lung cancer screening, patient advocates and some radiologists have been among those pushing for broader lung cancer screening criteria, for example, by including patients with fewer than 30 pack years of smoking history. But how often do people with different risk criteria from the National Lung Screening Trial have lung cancer? Find out here.
For that matter, how often are patients who haven't even reached the recommended screening age for colorectal cancer diagnosed with the disease? All the time, according to this study.
We invite you to scroll through the links below for the rest of the news in CT -- brought to you daily in your CT Community.
