MORRISVILLE, N.C., Sept. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Two
recent publications, a Sentinel Alert on the dangers of medical
radiation by The U.S. Joint Commission and an article entitled “The
Business of Healing Hearts” published in the September issue of
Consumer Reports magazine, could cause patients needing
diagnostic cardiovascular testing to be concerned about the safety
of those tests, or even to avoid them altogether.
According to a study cited in The Joint Commission alert, from
the 72 million CT (computerized tomography) scans performed in the
U.S. during 2007, it is estimated that 29,000 future cancers and
14,500 future deaths could develop due to radiation (cancer
incidence = 0.04 percent). The Commission therefore
recommends that, to reduce the exposure of the patient to ionizing
radiation, other imaging techniques such as ultrasound or MRI be
used whenever these tests will produce the required diagnostic
information at a similar quality level. Since ultrasound is
portable, cost-effective, and can be used in patients with
pacemakers and defibrillators, it clearly has its advantages,
particularly in caring for patients with suspected heart
disease.
The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) is available as a
resource for consumers seeking alternatives to radiation-based
cardiovascular testing. “ASE’s heart and circulation
specialists perform ultrasound on patients of all ages, from babies
to the elderly, because it is extremely safe and non-taxing on the
patient. Sonographers performing the exams don’t even have to
leave the room, so they are able to be with the patient at all
times. And, a quality echo exam has been proven to be as
effective as other imaging procedures in the majority of diagnostic
cardiac exams,” said ASE President Dr. James Thomas.
Advances in technology also continue to expand
echocardiography’s scope of patient care. Ultrasound is now used in
a wide variety
‘/>”/>
