U.S. doctors urged to use heart scans judiciously

"Doctors should be judicious in their use of X-ray heart imaging techniques and avoid their routine use to screen for cardiac problems, a leading U.S. medical group said on Monday. The American Heart Association urged doctors to weigh risks and benefits carefully in ordering diagnostic tests such as computed tomography, or CT, angiograms and nuclear stress tests in order to minimize the doses of ionizing radiation. Such low-dose radiation has the potential to cause cancer. A coronary CT angiogram is a heart-imaging test used to see whether fatty or calcium deposits have built up in the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle. Nuclear stress tests are used to look for lack of blood flow in the heart muscle that could indicate a blockage in a heart artery." - Reuters