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Many angiograms unnecessary, and carry radiation risks

Heart Angiograms Show No Disease in Almost 40%  BusinessWeek, March 10, 2010,  March 10 (Bloomberg) — Doctors may be sending patients too quickly for elective angiograms to detect heart disease, exposing them to radiation and driving up U.S. health-care costs, a study suggests.

An analysis of records of about 400,000 patients concluded that 37.6 percent who underwent angiography to find obstructed heart arteries showed evidence of significant blockage, according to research published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. A total of 39.2 percent displayed none……The study led by Patel “shows that too many people are having invasive tests that are associated with exposure to radiation,” Brenner said in a telephone interview.

Heart Angiograms Show No Disease in Almost 40% (Update1) – BusinessWeek

March 13, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, radiation, radioactive