MDs Balance Pros, Cons of 'Super X-Ray'

A type of "super X-ray" showed promise in its first big test as a potentially cheaper, faster and painless way to find out whether certain people with signs of heart disease actually have it and need treatment. The scans might eliminate the need for some of the 1.3 million cardiac catheterizations done each year in the United States to check for clogged arteries, said Dr. Julie Miller of Johns Hopkins University.

But the newer scans are controversial: Medicare and private insurers are debating whether to pay for them, and many heart specialists oppose them, partly because they supply a big dose of radiation. That raises the risk of cancer and might spur thousands of additional cases if the scans were widely used in the population, said Dr. Michael Lauer of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

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