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(Circulation. 2006;113:1715-1716.)
© 2006 American Heart Association, Inc.

AHA Science Advisory

The Utilization of Cardiac Imaging

Raymond J. Gibbons, MD, FACC, FAHA; Robert H. Eckel, MD, FAHA; Alice K. Jacobs, MD, FACC, FAHA, FSCAI, for the Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee

Key Words: AHA Scientific Statements • imaging • computed tomography • magnetic resonance • positron emission tomography

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Cardiac imaging with echocardiography and radionuclide techniques has played an increasingly important role in cardiovascular care over the past decade. Cardiac imaging is currently undergoing rapid evolution. Cardiac magnetic resonance (MR), cardiac computed tomography (CT), and combined positron emission tomography/CT or single photon emission computed tomography/CT scanners offer great promise for the assessment of coronary artery atherosclerosis and myocardial pathophysiology and histopathology, as well as a wide range of cardiovascular conditions. All of these areas have enjoyed important technical advances over the past 5 years that have greatly improved their capabilities and their potential applications. All are the focus of important ongoing research.

At the same time, concern is growing about the potential contribution of cardiac imaging costs to the overall increase in societal healthcare costs. The Medicare Payment Advisory Committee’s report to Congress in March 2005 expressed concern about the recent apparent increase in the use of imaging services within the Medicare program and suggested several steps for reform. Other third-party payers have expressed similar concerns and have begun to take action. Recently, Massachusetts Blue Cross and Blue Shield announced a new program for prescreening of certain imaging tests in the face of a 20% increase within the past year in the use of MR and CT. Both patients and physicians have been the subjects of advertising campaigns, particularly for freestanding imaging centers, that have often included marketing claims that may overstate the currently available scientific evidence supporting these new techniques. Like many other areas of evolving biomedical technology, . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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