Written by C.P. Kaiser
Last year, the SNM received a $48,000 grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to develop comparative-effectiveness research (CER) of PET and other molecular imaging techniques. The primary emphasis is on the diagnosis and management of cancer patients, but both cardiology and neurology questions are being addressed. Far beyond the dollars, too, is a significant increase in intellectual capital being expended across the globe on the role of CER in molecular imaging.
Written by James Brice
Small studies assessing the efficacy of coronary CT angiography (CCTA) to diagnose or rule out coronary artery disease (CAD) have been the staple reference standard for its adoption. But a new era of comparative-effectiveness research is unfolding as CCTA will be tested against other validated cardiac imaging modalities, in particular, SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI).
The American College of Radiology (ACR) is launching a trial to determine whether patients with stable angina can safely undergo cardiac CT angiography (CCTA) to determine if plaque stenosis is the cause of their pain, instead of a SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging exam, that often is followed by invasive catheter angiography to assess the degree of coronary artery disease.
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