(c) Coronal CT angiogram reconstructed at the CT console at the same time as b again demonstrates the right M1 artery occlusion (arrow).
After doing research on the Internet, he found Dr. Hecht, who recommended a CT angiogram.
| Updated Reader DK from Portland asked for a CT angiogram, and one was done.
Two years ago, Dr. Osborne persuaded a family practice doctor, Dr. Michael Dotti, to have his own CT angiogram at no cost.
Still, Dr. Hecht recommended that Mr. Franks have another CT angiogram next year to check that the plaque was not thickening.
But the patient's presentation was unusual, and the CT scan and CT angiogram hadn't shown anything abnormal.
The CT angiogram results will help the physician to target those patients who will benefit from intensive preventative therapy, which will reduce the chances of an event (like a heart attack or sudden death) from occurring.
But the story of the CT angiogram is a sobering reminder of the forces that overwhelm such efforts, making it very difficult to rein in a new technology long enough to determine whether its benefits are worth its costs.
The most valuable use of a CT angiogram may be when a patient comes to an emergency room complaining of chest pains but has few other symptoms of a heart attack.
Because Mr. Franks had already taken a nuclear stress test with normal results, he did not need a CT angiogram, said Dr. Brindis, vice president of the American College of Cardiology.
CareCore National, a Bluffton, S.C., company that reviews treatment and test requests for health insurers, has found that when doctors request a CT angiogram for a patient, they also frequently ask for a nuclear stress test.
