Healthcare Imaging & IT - July 2008 - (Page 31)

tool. “Obviously we would not want to screen everyone—but for high-risk, asymptomatic patients, if we could identify those patients at very high risk, we might be able to change their medical therapy,” Miller notes. Patients at very high risk, such as diabetic patients, are thought to be more susceptible to heart disease, but there are many asymptomatic patients who die from cardiac events that are the first sign of coronary disease. “We do not have proof that screening asymptomatic patients with CCTA, and then treating them based on what we find, actually saves lives or prevents heart attacks,” says J. Bret Muhlestein, director of cardiology research at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah. Intermountain is embarking on a new study that will determine whether CT scans can prevent heart attacks and strokes by finding dangerously clogged arteries in patients who otherwise have no symptoms of heart disease. The first-of-its-kind study could change the way heart disease is diagnosed and treated, Muhlestein notes. The FaCTor64 study will use new 64-slice CT scanning technology as an early warning system to find dangerously clogged arteries in 1,100 patients with diabetes, a disease that leaves them particularly vulnerable to heart disease, but otherwise have no symptoms of heart disease. Physicians then will treat patients in an attempt to preempt heart attacks, strokes and death. Currently, CMS does not reimburse for CCTA for asymptomatic screening, but Muhlestein says CMS “is waiting for a study like this to provide proof that CTA helps asymptomatic patients before they will pay for it.” Intermountain deliberately chose a patient population that was high risk and asymptomatic so that researchers could, in an affordable number of patients, have enough expected events to determine a sudden reduction statistically in screened patients compared to those left to standard care methods. “Our hope is that if we demonstrate a significant reduction in death and heart attack and result in therapies that will improve the life of patients we screen—then CMS will pay for it. If it does not, then we will look at other ways of capturing and aiding the 25 percent of patients who die of a cardiac event before receiving care,” he says. As the technology continues to develop, and as further studies are conducted, the lingering questions surrounding the efficacy and utility of CCTA, for both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients, may finally be answered. Latest DynaCAD Enhancements Offer Improved Workﬂow and Increased Diagnostic Conﬁdence Biopsy Breast Array Coil Increased Diagnostic Conﬁdence Integrated Interventional Planning Imaging 12501 Research Parkway Orlando, FL 32826 tel 407-275-3220 tel 800-331-3220 fax 407-249-2022 info@invivocorp.com HealthImaging.com July 2008 | Health Imaging & IT 31 http://www.invivocorp.com http://www.invivocorp.com http://www.invivocorp.com http://HealthImaging.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Imaging & IT - July 2008

Healthcare Imaging & IT - July 2008 On the Web The Enterprise News Update Convention Spotlight: AHRA 2008 Cover Story: Driving Metrics to Drive Business: Digital Dashboards Deliver Mammography CAD Comes of Age Breast MR CAD: Earlier Detection, Increased Efficiency Lung CAD Earning a Spot in Day-to-Day Practice Colon CAD: Breaking Down Barriers Modality Review: Cardiac CT Angiography: A Clear Pathway to Better Cardiac Patient Management Practice Management: RIS Rights Efficiency & Productivity Wrongs In Practice: Advanced Visualization Across the Enterprise Regulatory Update: Beware: Recovery Audit Contractors Poised for Permanent Status Technology Outlook: Compressing Images for Remote Transmission Reader's Resource Stat Sheet

Healthcare Imaging & IT - July 2008

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