What complications can you have from a CT scan? I would have thought this would be 100% fewer complications.
Maybe they meant less complication for lower costs/billings?
Fewer complications than cardiac catheterization.
The sort of test they likely used was one with iodine contrast, to light things up.
As long as the contrast is heated to body temperature, and is a newer agent, it should be fine.
False positives and false negatives are taken into account as “side effects” or adverse outcomes for imaging studies. Although a cardiac CT does not use contrast, other imaging studies do and can cause allergic reaction and or kidney problems.
The Cardiac CT is a nice study to have, but doesn’t really take the place of any existing studies. It is a static test (image) so does not give dynamic feedback such as a stress test, and of course, a heart catheter can treat CAD via angioplasty and stent placement. Cardiac CTs are nice when patients do not want to treat their blood pressure or take statins etc, and then can be shown what sort of disease burden their coronary arteries are actually carrying to add information to the discussion.
Ionizing radiation is not good for you. It would be nice if a patient’s lifetime exposure was documented somewhere, it isn’t and from what I have experienced, the doctors act like each test is a stand alone event, whereas it is cumulative.