Dear AuntMinnie Member,
We get to the heart of the matter this week on AuntMinnie.com, with articles from this week's American Heart Association meeting in Orlando, FL.
In our first article, researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found that 64-slice CT coronary angiography is nearly as accurate as conventional catheter-based angiography for detecting coronary artery stenosis. In one of the first multicenter studies of its kind, CT performed just as well as angio for the larger vessels that are most likely to cause problems, according to the researchers. Get the rest of the details by clicking here.
Another study compared multidetector CT angiography to whole-heart MR for detecting coronary artery stenosis. The researchers found that CT had a higher success rate for completing studies and was quicker than MRI, but MRI held its own in assessing evaluable segments -- and without radiation, of course. Find out more about the results by clicking here.
Meanwhile, German researchers found that CT can be a useful tool for determining long-term prognosis in patients with chest pain -- eliminating the need for invasive catheter angiography in many patients. Learn more by clicking here.
Finally, we report on a new study that analyzes the market for cardiac PACS networks. The report finds that while cardiac PACS has historically operated independently of radiology PACS, that may be changing due to long-term market trends. Read the article by clicking here.
