Are these low cost heart scans they advertise effective?

[cleller]

I imagine you've heard ads on the radio for the heart hospital that will do a scan of your heart for $50. Some competitors now advertise online for $37. My wife even found a Groupon for $17.
I'm only 50, with no family history of serious heart problems, but I know a few people that had to have the roto-rooter routine due to clogs, etc. I thought I ought to go ahead and do one of these, to be on the safe side. When the prices started getting so low, I wondered if maybe there is a catch. I researched online and found that some doctors don't like the super-fast CT scans, as they are not quite reliable enough. I believe the current procedures utilize a CT method called EBT, which can be prone to false positives.

My other big question is do these scans include a real doctor to look at them and say whether you're OK or not; or do they just hand over the results and then you're on your own.

Anyone familiar? I'm sure Soonerfans is chock full of heart specialists.

[StoopTroup]

I'm a bit older than you and I think those burgers I had today may have clogged something. :D

[hawaii 5-0]

I'm no Doctor but I think for $17 you're gonna get what you pay for.

Sorry I can't be better help.

5-0

[C&CDean]

I imagine you've heard ads on the radio for the heart hospital that will do a scan of your heart for $50. Some competitors now advertise online for $37. My wife even found a Groupon for $17.
I'm only 50, with no family history of serious heart problems, but I know a few people that had to have the roto-rooter routine due to clogs, etc. I thought I ought to go ahead and do one of these, to be on the safe side. When the prices started getting so low, I wondered if maybe there is a catch. I researched online and found that some doctors don't like the super-fast CT scans, as they are not quite reliable enough. I believe the current procedures utilize a CT method called EBT, which can be prone to false positives.

My other big question is do these scans include a real doctor to look at them and say whether you're OK or not; or do they just hand over the results and then you're on your own.

Anyone familiar? I'm sure Soonerfans is chock full of heart specialists.

A heart scan is OK, but it won't show everything. Without angioplasty, you really don't know...

[rock on sooner]

I imagine you've heard ads on the radio for the heart hospital that will do a scan of your heart for $50. Some competitors now advertise online for $37. My wife even found a Groupon for $17.
I'm only 50, with no family history of serious heart problems, but I know a few people that had to have the roto-rooter routine due to clogs, etc. I thought I ought to go ahead and do one of these, to be on the safe side. When the prices started getting so low, I wondered if maybe there is a catch. I researched online and found that some doctors don't like the super-fast CT scans, as they are not quite reliable enough. I believe the current procedures utilize a CT method called EBT, which can be prone to false positives.

My other big question is do these scans include a real doctor to look at them and say whether you're OK or not; or do they just hand over the results and then you're on your own.

Anyone familiar? I'm sure Soonerfans is chock full of heart specialists.

All those questions that you just asked should be the ones that you ask
of whoever is gonna do the scan for ya. More questions the better!

[rock on sooner]

I'm a bit older than you and I think those burgers I had today may have clogged something. :D

Depends on the "fat" content of the meat and how they were cooked! But,
man, do love a good burger!!

[StoopTroup]

Depends on the "fat" content of the meat and how they were cooked! But,
man, do love a good burger!!

True.

A Cardio Stress Test is where it's at. They even tell you to walk into the light. :D

[MobstaM]

I am a physician and it is in my professional opinion that these "heart scans" are complete wastes of time and money. More to the point, they are money-making schemes for the hospitals/physicians that perform them.

The scans are meant to detect calcification in the arteries that serve the heart (the coronary arteries). The rationale behind the scans is the belief that the amount of calcification in the coronary arteries correlates to the amount of atherosclerotic plaque present (and, in turn, correlates to the risk of heart attack). The problem is that no statistically-proven correlation has ever been found between the two.

The tests are designed to give a high false positive rate. This in turn allows the hospitals/physicians to recommend (with a shady "heart scan" as proof that you need it) more expensive follow-up testing (i.e cardiac catheterizations). In essence, these dirt-cheap "heart scans" are ways to get your foot in the door as a gateway to the much more expensive diagnostic tests the hospitals/physicians really want to get you to do.

Again, this is just my opinion.

[olevetonahill]

So a bait and switch type deal?
Why you Red?
Some one Green the Man fer me .

[Boomer.....]

and the Lord said let him be green!

Thanks for the info.

[sooner_born_1960]

Thanks for the insight, MobstaM.

[olevetonahill]

and the Lord said let him be green!

Thanks for the info.

Thanks bro
That was the Only post of his that showed

[olevetonahill]

Thanks for the insight, MobstaM.

Yup, as far as I know Our other Docs dont post here any more If they do its not very often

[cleller]

I am a physician and it is in my professional opinion that these "heart scans" are complete wastes of time and money. More to the point, they are money-making schemes for the hospitals/physicians that perform them.

The scans are meant to detect calcification in the arteries that serve the heart (the coronary arteries). The rationale behind the scans is the belief that the amount of calcification in the coronary arteries correlates to the amount of atherosclerotic plaque present (and, in turn, correlates to the risk of heart attack). The problem is that no statistically-proven correlation has ever been found between the two.

The tests are designed to give a high false positive rate. This in turn allows the hospitals/physicians to recommend (with a shady "heart scan" as proof that you need it) more expensive follow-up testing (i.e cardiac catheterizations). In essence, these dirt-cheap "heart scans" are ways to get your foot in the door as a gateway to the much more expensive diagnostic tests the hospitals/physicians really want to get you to do.

Again, this is just my opinion.

I read a similar story online. It soft pedaled the "foot in the door" angle, but did mention the high rate of false positives. It does say something along the lines of if your heart is fantastic, it will show it, and if there is any cause at all, it won't miss it. Yet a good many false positives are going to be thrown in.

If I make it thru Saturday night, I'm sure my heart is in good enough condition to last at least 20 more years.

I think a better plan would be to stage a knock-down by an OKC -owned vehicle, then complain of chest pain. That would get me some good, overly thorough testing.

[MobstaM]

No problem, guys.

For the record, I don't think most physicians that recommend getting a heart scan done are doing so because they have some sort of financial self-interest in doing so. I do think that the vast majority that recommend them are doing so out of ignorance in that they don't completely understand what the test does (unfortunately).