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Biotech / Medical : IMAT - ultrafast tomography for coronary artery disease -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: john couch who wrote (2421)	4/29/1998 1:45:00 AM
From: CAP	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 3725

Is this IMAT's CT scanner they're talking about? Perhaps from the Japan operation? CAP Tuesday April 28 6:35 PM EDT CT Aids Lung Cancer Screening NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Early detection of lung cancer greatly improves the chance of a cure. In Japan, where lung cancer is the leading cause of deaths from cancer, many people are screened for lung cancer using traditional chest x-rays. Now, Japanese researchers suggest that computed tomography (CT) is a more accurate method of detecting small, sparse tumors often missed in mass screening programs. Dr. Shusuke Sone, of Shinshu University in Matsumoto, Japan, and others report in the April 25th issue of The Lancet that CT identified almost 10 times more patients with cancer than conventional screening methods. The researchers performed CT in a van that they drove to 29 Japanese municipalities. The imaging resolution of the mobile CT scanner was lower than that of conventional CT units, but even so, it led to accurate diagnosis of more cases of lung cancer. Sone's team identified 16,449 adults who had participated in a health survey the year before. At that time, chest x-rays had shown that all subjects were free of lung cancer. The researchers then examined 5,583 people using CT alone, 3,967 people using both CT and chest x-rays, and 10,966 people using chest x-rays alone. They also analyzed sputum samples from heavy smokers. On the basis of CT, the investigators diagnosed lung cancer in 19 participants. These diagnoses were later confirmed by biopsies or other well-established diagnostic techniques. In 18 of the lung cancer patients, the cancerous lesions did not appear on chest x-rays, or they appeared but were misinterpreted. The CT scanner detected lesions as small as 6 mm, but it did miss one case of lung cancer that was detected by analysis of sputum samples. The authors conclude that, compared with chest x-rays, "CT was more accurate in mass screening for lung cancer and led to early detection." They recommend that a mobile CT scanner should be considered for use in future screening programs. SOURCE: The Lancet (1998;351:1242-1245)

To: john couch who wrote (2421)	4/29/1998 10:55:00 AM
From: art slott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3725

Hi John, Could you tell us when the next symposium or two will be, that will have presentations about Ultrafast CT. Do you generally know how many studies will be evaluating Imat scan at each one? Thanks, Art

To: john couch who wrote (2421)	5/2/1998 9:17:00 PM
From: art slott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3725

Looks like my LDL reading of 132 isn't too good. Here is another reason to get scanned. <Picture: Click here for Seinfeld!><Picture> "Normal'' Triglyceride Levels Are Too High <Picture>1:34 p.m. ET (1735 GMT) May 1, 1998 NEW YORK - To evaluate a patient's risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and other diseases, doctors often test blood levels of triglycerides - molecules that carry fat through the bloodstream. But a new study suggests that the triglyceride levels now considered "normal'' may still be too high. A research team led by Dr. Michael Miller, of the University of Maryland in Baltimore, proposes that the "normal'' limit for triglycerides should be set at 100 milligrams per deciliter of blood - half the amount presently considered normal by the National Cholesterol Education Program. "There wasn't great rhyme or reason why that cutoff of 200 was selected,'' Miller said in an interview with Reuters. "It was thought that perhaps it would be easy for physicians and the general public to keep a level of 200 in mind, because that's the cutoff used with cholesterol.'' Miller and his colleagues recommended the lower cutoff after studying 350 patients who were diagnosed with coronary artery disease in 1977 or 1978. The researchers studied the incidence of subsequent "cardiovascular events'' in these patients: death from heart disease, a nonfatal heart attack, nonsurgical blockage of coronary vessels, or the need for an artery-clearing procedure such as bypass surgery or balloon angioplasty. Over the next 18 years, 199 patients experienced a new cardiovascular event, the research team found. A triglyceride count of 100 or more increased the relative risk of a new cardiovascular event by 50% and reduced the chance of surviving a subsequent event. Miller's group published their findings in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. "The good news,'' Miller told Reuters, "is that triglycerides tend to be more responsive to conservative measures than cholesterol is. On average, you can reduce cholesterol levels maybe about 10% with a good diet and exercise, but you may be able to reduce triglycerides as much as 30%, 40%, and sometimes even 50%. So we don't necessarily need to jump to medications.'' So far, no clinical trial has examined whether lowering triglyceride levels affects the incidence of cardiovascular events. "That same question was posed for cholesterol 20 years ago,'' Miller noted in the interview. "Basically, we're about 20 years behind in triglycerides.'' SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Cardiology (1998;31:1252-1257) c Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved c 1998, News America Digital Publishing, Inc. d/b/a Fox News Online. All rights reserved. Fox News is a registered trademark of 20th Century Fox Film Corp. comments@foxnews.com