title: SPECT imaging boosts flow: here's how to use it.
abstract: Use of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging and early exercise stress testing can assess chest pain patients and lead to earlier discharges from the ED, according to researchers. SPECT imaging and early exercise stress testing are used with intermediate-risk chest pain patients with no electrocardiographic evidence of acute ischemia. In a published study, SPECT imaging reduced median in-hospital costs for patients to $1,254, compared with $3,747 with conventional diagnostics. Biochemical markers take up to 12 hours from onset of symptoms before they become positive, while SPECT imaging can determine the presence of myocardial infarction in chest pain patients in minutes.
mesh_terms: D002637:Chest Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010351:Patient Discharge; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States