title: Environmental impact of cardiac imaging tests for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease.
abstract: The use of cardiovascular imaging is growing inexorably and concerns have been expressed about its cost and radiation safety. In this study, the relative environmental impact of MRI, single photon emission tomography and cardiac ultrasound (echo) for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease were examined. The results emphasise that echo causes the least environmental impact at each stage of its life cycle. The effect of one echo on human health, ecosystem effects and resource use was of the order of 1-20% of those of the alternative methods. Although there are circumstances in which one imaging modality is preferred on clinical grounds, when everything else is equal, these results support the selection of echocardiography as the preferred test on environmental grounds.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Imaging J1-5, Heart and Vascular Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA. marwict@ccf.org
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Marwick
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Buonocore
mesh_terms: D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000295:instrumentation; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000295:instrumentation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000295:instrumentation