MRI and CT are the most important medical innovations in the last 25 years, according to a survey of 225 general internists around the U.S. The research was published in the September/October issue of the journal Health Affairs.
In the survey, the authors asked the internists to review a list of 30 innovations and select five to seven that would have the most adverse effect on their patients if these technologies did not exist, as well as the five to seven that would have the least adverse effect. MRI and CT were ranked first, with ACE inhibitors, balloon angioplasty, statins, and mammography filling out the top five.
Ultrasound and echocardiography pulled in the number 11 spot. The study was co-authored by Dr. Victor Fuchs at Stanford University and Dr. Harold Sox Jr., current editor of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
October 11, 2001
Copyright © 2001 AuntMinnie.com
![Axial images from unenhanced calcium score cardiac CT (left) and curved planar reformation images from CT angiography (right) show that higher long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with greater coronary artery calcium and more obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). Top row: Images in a 68-year-old male patient with higher 10-year mean ambient air pollution exposure (7.9 μg/m3 for particulate matter measuring ≤2.5 μm in diameter [PM2.5] and 17.4 parts per billion [ppb] for NO2) with extensive CAD (coronary artery calcium score [CACS] >1,000 and obstructive CAD [≥70% diameter stenosis]). Bottom row: Images in a 57-year-old female patient with lower 10-year mean ambient air pollution exposure (6.3 μg/m3 for PM2.5 and 4.6 ppb for NO2) with no CAD (CACS = 0 and no obstructive stenosis).](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/06/hanneman.r6SMLzkezo.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
