Heart Test May Be Overused

By Ron Winslow, The Wall Street Journal

A widely used test to detect blockages in the heart's arteries often turns up little or no evidence of disease, a new study found, suggesting that patients are frequently exposed unnecessarily to the risks and costs of the invasive examination.

The test is a called a coronary angiogram, in which cardiologists thread a catheter into the heart to take an X-ray movie to look for obstructions that might cause chest pain or increase the risk of a heart attack. More than a million U.S. patients undergo the diagnostic test each year at a cost of about $10,000 each, according to government data. In cases where significant obstruction is found, the test helps doctors determine whether a patient should undergo coronary bypass surgery or have a stent implanted to alleviate the problem.

A cardiologist threads a catheter into the heart through a blood vessel in the groin to initiate an angiogram.

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