"Super X-ray" scanner that detects heart disease

in Orlando, Florida, a device called "Super X-rays" is promising in its first major test and is expected to be a cheap, fast and painless test for patient
s withheartdiseaseProfessor Julie Miller, of Johns Hopkins University, said: "With this scanner, it can replace the 1.3 millioncardiaccatheterization currently performed in the United States each year to check for arterial obstruction"However, the new scanner is still controversial" Super X-rays are "controversial
debate is ongoing between public health insurance and private insurers in the United States, with many cardiologists opposing whether to pay for the test, focusing on the need for a large dose of radiation for the "super X-ray" scannerProfessor Michael Lauer of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute is concerned that the widespread use of such devices for screening in people could increase theof cancer and thousands of otherdiseasesSpeaking at an American Heart Association meeting to present the results of the scanner, Professor Michael Lauer called on doctors not to use this test until there is definitive research that proves that this method can save livesProfessor Miller, who led the study, responded: "I think his concerns are a little redundant Because, this 'super X-ray' scanner will only be used in a small number of patients who qualify for the test, rather than, as they fear, in people without any symptoms "
this new CT scanning technology was on the market two years ago and has been used by many hospital
Because it uses 64 detectors to generate images, the scanner is called a "64-layer CT" The images of the scanner are so detailed that some doctors say they are almost as clear as the surgical vision In the new study, angiogram vs.64 layer CT tested with the scanner's examination using the current standard of the of the gold that checked for heart disease in the cardiac catheterization laboratory The results showed that the new scanner was 10 times more radiation dose than the angiography standard Although the technology has been used before, it has never been proven to have specific radiation data The international study, organized by Professor Miller, is the first to directly compare the two methods of examination The researchers began studying 405 people suspected of having a heart attack and eliminated about a quarter of them at an early stage because they were only high in calcium on the walls of the arteries As you get older, arterial blood vessels harden, a phenomenon that is more common, and doctors worry that it may look like a obstruction, which could lead to biased test results, so exclude such patients from the study The researchers then performed the new CT scan on the remaining 291 subjects, followed by standard angiography The results showed that 83% of the subjects did not have obstruction, while in patients with obstruction, 9/10 of them could be detected by scanning Professor Miller said the scan would rule out heart disease in nearly half of patients, so they avoided pain during treatment, the cost of surgery and the risk of catheterization Professor Timothy Gardner, a spokesman for the American Heart Association and a cardiologist, said the ability of the Super X-ray scanner to solve problems painless is "exciting", but the range of people the instrument needs to be further determined Professor Raymond Gibbons, former head of the Heart Association, revealed that the association had recently sent a letter to public health insurance officials opposing the use of the super scanner in patients withnococtic symptoms, but also said that patients with heart conditions or those who needed to be examined for heart disease could consider using it But some say the findings will not change their opposition to the new technology Professor Steven Nissen, an American cardiologist, said: "I'm not going to buy it, if you do this CT and find some problems, you still need to have a catheter insert for an angiography to confirm it." In addition, he noted, in the study, the researchers deliberately selected patients who were most likely to have heart disease for the CT test, which led to the results The new scanner costs less than $1,000 to check, and angiography for catheter insertion costs $2,500 or more The more advanced scanner, which is about to come into use, can provide a CT image of 128 or even 256 layers, which means that it can provide a more detailed image At present, the debate between cardiologists who do angiography and radiologists who do this new type of scan is still in dispute