The use of advanced medical imaging for brain applications in the emergency setting in the U.S. exploded from 1994 to 2012, according to a study presented this week at the American College of Radiology annual meeting (ACR 2016) in Washington, DC.
A group from Emory University in Atlanta and the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute in Reston, VA, tracked the use of CT and MRI in emergency departments based on data from the Medicare Physician/Supplier Procedure Summary Master Files.
Lead author Dr. Sumir Patel and colleagues found that brain CT use increased 12.5% per year, while brain MRI use grew 16.6% per year.
| Brain imaging in the emergency department, 1994-2012 | ||||
| Modality | No. of procedures | Aggregate percent change | Average annual percent change | |
| 1994 | 2012 | |||
| Brain CT | 330,296 | 2,757,890 | 735% | 12.5% |
| Brain MRI | 5,228 | 33,110 | 1,588% | 16.6% |
| CT angiography | 375 | 34,218 | 9,025% | 45.1% |
| MR angiography | 5,348 | 33,110 | 519% | 18.2% |
Brain CT remains by an order of magnitude the dominant imaging modality for neurology applications in the emergency setting, the researchers concluded. They noted that further research is needed to determine whether the increases are from services related to emergency-only visits, or whether they are from expedited imaging in the emergency department of admitted inpatients.
