LETTERS TO L.A. LIFE : CT SCANS ARE SAVING LIVES.Dear L.A. Life: In regard to ``Heart smart: New scanner may detect coronary artery disease coronary artery disease, condition that results when the coronary arteries are narrowed or occluded, most commonly by atherosclerotic deposits of fibrous and fatty tissue. earlier, but some contend cost outweighs advantages'' (L.A Life, Nov. 29), Dr. Robert Detrano of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located within the city of Torrance, California, USA. The hospital was founded in 1946, and is funded by Los Angeles County Harbor-UCLA serves as the Level I Trauma Center for the South Bay area. said that the roughly 50 American centers that have ultrafast CT are pushing calcium scanning to pay for the machines that can't do much else. A few weeks ago, Imatron's electron-beam CAT scanner was given FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. approval to do minimally invasive coronary angiograms. This means that many selected patients needing a coronary artery angiogram an·gi·o·gram n. An angiographic x-ray of blood vessels used in diagnosing pathological conditions of the cardiovascular system.//An x-ray of one or more blood vessels produced by angiography and used in diagnosing pathology in the cardiovascular will not have to have a catheter entering the femoral artery in the groin and threaded up through their aortic aortic pertaining to or emanating from the aorta. See also aortic arch. aortic aneurysm occurs most often in dogs, where it is caused by Spirocerca lupi larvae, turkeys and primates, causing dyspnea, cyanosis and coughing. artery into their coronary arteries and the risks that go with it. Instead, an intravenous injection with iodinated dye may suffice. This is a great boon for cardiology, cutting down on costs and risks of angiography. Ultrafast CT scanning is making a major contribution to the field of cardiology. Calcium scans are not being pushed just to make money, as Dr. Detrano stated, but are serving a very good and important public need. David Hertz, M.D. Tarzana Dear Daily News: Your article (``Heart smart'') was interesting, but you failed to look at the big picture. A friend is 40, in great shape, doesn't smoke, plays sports and eats low-fat. He had done a treadmill test, and all was OK. He went to UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX and got an ultrafast CT scan, which showed major plaque buildup. He went back and redid re·did v. Past tense of redo. the treadmill, but this time the doctor pushed him because he saw the CT report. This time, the treadmill came back positive. Here's the point: This guy would have gone out and played a hard game of basketball and fallen over and died, because the blockage was so large, the doctor said his first heart attack would have killed him. I think you might have talked someone out of having this test, which, in my friend's case, Blue Cross paid for. Lance Holt Thousand Oaks Hey, Industry! Put some of those movies in the Valley Dear L.A. Life: When will the various entertainment industry guilds, associations and societies realize that a great number of industry personnel live in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. ? Right now, there are six different films for Academy and guild-awards coconsideration being shown in other parts of Los Angeles and not anywhere in the Valley. Aren't we academy voting members as important as those in Century City, Costa Mesa, Santa Monica, Pasadena and Irvine? Bob Rains Tarzana |
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