Coronary heart disease causes nearly half of deaths and disability in Americans between the ages of 35 and 64. Now Positron Emission Tomography (PET) diagnoses heart disease non-invasively with 96-98% accuracy in individuals with or without symptoms of heart disease, permitting treatment even before symptoms appear.
Since its diagnostic accuracy is much higher than standard tests at comparable cost per study, PET reduces expense and risk by avoiding unnecessary tests and procedures, thereby providing more efficient diagnoses.
Coronary artery disease can be substantially reversed or its progression stopped by improving risk factors and by cholesterol lowering pharmaceuticals. This comprehensive medical approach decreases heart attacks, sudden death, the need for bypass surgery and balloon dilation or improves outcome of these procedures if needed.
Individuals with coronary heart disease with or without symptoms can be identified or evaluated and treated by a comprehensive, non-invasive, economical approach based on PET. Health care is thereby optimized with substantial reduction in costs to health care payors.
February 1995:
American College of Cardiology - American Heart Association - American Society of Nuclear Cardiology Guidelines: Classified PET MPI with Rb-82 a Category I Procedure "appropriate & useful" in management of CADMarch 14, 1995:
HCFA Medicare / Medicaid Approved Reimbursement for Medicare & Medicaid Patients
PET Myocardial Perfusion Imaging was introduced in November of 1995 to Buffalo by Dr. Merhige guided by his experience with the national expert in cardiac PET imaging, Dr. K. Lance Gould.
