Medical imaging plays an important role in diagnosing several health problems. Recent studies have examined how this method aids doctors in treating coronary heart disease through the use of CT and CT angiography scans.
CTA narrow critical cases
Scotland researchers found that CTA scans provide more accurate diagnosing and treatment for patients, AuntMinnie.com reported. David Newby, M.D., lead investigator and author of the survey, told the source that CTA allows health care professionals to know whether or not they have over or underdiagnosed a patient and to alter treatment accordingly.
Newby also believed that CTA can help determine which patients actually need treatment, as opposed to those who are low risk. The use of this method of digital x-rays can remove low-risk patients from unnecessary medication and focus on those who truly need it.
CTA scans can detect symptoms that a normal stress test would be unable to catch in chest-pain patients, according to the source. Because CTA actually looks at blood vessels and arteries, they are able to see blockages and conditions that standard testing would not. Doctors can examine these images closely using PACS to determine diagnoses and treatments.
No change in treatment with new method
Not all studies have shown that CTA scans provide doctors with a better diagnosis. Duke Medicine researchers compared results from chest-pain patients for both the traditional stress tests and the CTA scan. There was no discernible difference in diagnosis between patients who used one method over the other, News Medical reported.
It is believed that CTA can improve outcomes of the test without an invasive procedure. However, that does not prove to be the case, according to the source. While the newer method showed a difference in the first year of the study, it did not remain the same in the next.
Medical imaging can also be ineffective for patients with a low risk of heart disease, according to an American College of Physicians study on AuntMinnie.com. With no effective treatment, low-risk patients can face unnecessary scanning and harmful results, such as overexposure to radiation.
While there are conflicting views on the benefits of CTA usage, doctors and patients can decide what method works best for them. Scans can provide a closer look at blood vessels and allow physicians to see if there are any issues in people's arteries. However, depending on the patient, traditional testing can work just as well.
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Ronny Bachrach
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