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Media Contact: Dan Snyders Armada Medical Marketing FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 303-623-1190 x230 March xxApril 7 , 2005 dan@armadamedical.com720-231-9990 mobile
Stress Test Without EBT Heart Scan Leaves Millions At Risk Of Heart Attack Or Sudden Death
Society For Responsible Preventive Imaging says coronary calcium score from medically proven EBT heart scan is key to preventing heart disease
DENVER - The Society for Responsible Preventive Imaging (SRPI) said today that the traditional stress test is relied upon for prevention, when in fact it only detects the late or critical stages of heart disease, leaving millions of Americans with a false sense of security. “It’s a national tragedy that the first sign of heart disease for the majority of Americans is either a heart attack or sudden death,” said Dr. James Ehrlich, president of the Society for Responsible Preventive Imaging (www.armadamedical.com/SRPI).
To help stem the tide of the 340,000 Americans each year who do not survive their first heart attack, the Society is advocating a much broader use of electron beam tomography (EBT) in clinical practice.
The SRPI maintains that EBT imaging should become the cornerstone technology in preventive cardiology and the nation’s efforts to reduce the staggering $350 billion annual price tag of heart disease. SRPI Physicians and member imaging centers around the country use medically validated EBT heart scans to detect the presence of artery clogging plaque-the most important factor in determining heart disease risk.
More than 1000 articles referencing electron beam tomography have been published, and more than 100 of the most prestigious medical centers in the nation have found the EBT heart scan to be validated as a screening tool for the early detection of coronary calcium.
“Without an EBT heart scan to measure coronary calcium, neither you, your doctor, nor your insurance company, know whether or not you’re at your true risk for a heart attack,” said SPRI member Dr. Matthew Budoff, director of the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center EBT Clinic. “A normal stress test tells us that the patient doesn’t have a critical blockage at that point in time, but it routinely misses clinically significant amounts of plaque in the arteries.”
“Managed care companies readily cover stress testing for low-risk, asymptomatic individuals, while denying coverage for clinically useful EBT heart scans,” maintained Ehrlich. “This flawed policy results in expensive and risky follow-up interventional procedures.”
“Former President Bill Clinton passed his stress test with flying colors, and then checked into the hospital for emergency quadruple bypass surgery,” “Most patients recovering in coronary care units today would have passed a $1,500 to $2,000 stress test with no problem,” said Steve Brunst, SRPI member and Managing Director of InnerVision Wellness Imaging in Carlsbad, Calif. “It leaves us wondering how many patients recovering in coronary care units today would have passed an identical $1,500 to $2,000 stress test.”
“Former President Bill Clinton passed his stress test with flying colors, and then checked into the hospital for emergency quadruple bypass surgery.”
“Bill Clinton is a poster child for why stress tests alone are inadequate,” said Dr. Marc KahnJohn Duncan, SRPI member and CEO and Founder medical director of EBT-Heart & Body Imaging in Detroit of Via Scan of Las Colinas.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Chief of Imaging and Nuclear Cardiology Dr. Daniel Berman noted, “There are noninvasive tests that can effectively define the presence of coronary artery disease even before a blockage has occurred, such as EBT, which detects plaque in the coronary artery wall.”
In a recently published study by Berman and his colleagues, 56 percent of patients who had normal SPECT scans (nuclear stress tests) had an EBT coronary calcium score that revealed enough disease to be predictive of high, long-term risk for heart attack or death, and therefore to warrant aggressive therapy (lifestyle modification and prescription drugs).
The Society for Responsible Preventive Imaging believes the public has a right to know and understand the benefits of the EBT heart scan and get answers as to why this technology is not more widely available or covered by insurance. The current SRPI recommendation is for physicians to perform an EBT heart scan before any stress test, and only proceed with stress testing for coronary calcium scores over 100, as implied by the Berman study.
About SRPI Founded in 2003, The Society for Responsible Preventive Imaging (SRPI) is an organization of imaging centers, and the physicians, medical professionals and directors affiliated with those centers. Its mission is to responsibly communicate the benefits of appropriate medical and preventive testing procedures-including the high-speed, low-radiation electron beam tomography (EBT)-to medical professionals, associations and the general public. The SRPI strives to offer clinically proven alternatives to conventional screening tests while advocating the importance of a meaningful and well-informed patient/physician relationship. For more information, contact Dr. James Ehrlich at telemed@earthlink.net or visit www.armadamedical.com/SRPI.
About Colorado Heart & Body Imaging Founded in 1997, Colorado Heart & Body Imaging operates two world-class, comprehensive, preventive screening centers in Denver, CO. at 2490 West 26th Avenue #110-A and 201 Columbine Street in Cherry Creek North. The centers offer lung, heart, colon, total body and bone density imaging for early detection of coronary disease and cancer as well as non-imaging based services and consultation. CHBI uses FDA-approved electron beam tomography (EBT). Unlike slower and higher radiation helical (spiral) mechanical equipment, EBT's usefulness for coronary imaging and cardiac risk assessment has been validated extensively in cardiology literature. Formal cardiology relationships have been developed with Aurora-Denver Cardiology. Colorado Imaging Associates continues its professional radiological services for the centers. For more information contact Colorado Heart & Body Imaging at 303.433.8800 or visit www.coloradoheart.com.
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