Heart scan may reveal other problems

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Nearly half of patients who have a heart scan find they have other physical problems.
There has been a huge increase in the number of CT heart scans, which allow doctors a view of the coronary arteries without an the need for an invasive procedure. The technology allows great detail to be seen, and not just of the heart. The aorta, liver, lungs, pancreas and the structures and spaces around them can also be looked at.

A team at the University of Michigan Health System now reports on a study of how heart CT scans may reveal physical problems that have nothing to do with the heart. In a group of 98 patients having CT heart scans, 43 proved to have such problems. Sixteen may have had lung cancer, and ten showed signs of blood clots or aneurysms.

The researchers say it is really important that CT heart scans are examined by a radiologist and not just a heart specialist. Otherwise it is possible that these non-heart problems may be missed.

Source
American Roentgen Ray Society meeting 16th May 2005