Dear AuntMinnie Member,
A new study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine could mean good news for coronary CT angiography by highlighting the low diagnostic yield of catheter-based angio studies, according to an article we're featuring in our Cardiac Imaging Digital Community.
U.S. researchers found that nearly two-thirds of patients referred to cardiac cath ended up with no signs of obstructive coronary disease, indicating that a high number of patients are being unnecessarily exposed to an invasive test with a low diagnostic yield.
The results hint that the current diagnostic workup for patients with suspected coronary artery disease isn't working. Indeed, an editorial in the same issue points to the potential of CT angiography as an imaging test that could be a better "gatekeeper" for angiography.
Learn more by clicking here, or visit the community at cardiac.auntminnie.com.
Another SGR fix passes
In other news, the U.S. Senate yesterday passed what could be a more long-term solution to the sustainable growth rate (SGR) problem, which is requiring a 21% cut in Medicare reimbursement to physicians.
The Senate passed a bill that would delay the SGR cuts until October, presumably giving Congress more time to implement a longer-term fix. If the current bill doesn't pass the House of Representatives, then the SGR cuts will go into effect April 1.
Learn more by clicking here, or visit the Imaging Center Digital Community at centers.auntminnie.com.
![Images show the pectoralis muscles of a healthy male individual who never smoked (age, 66 years; height, 178 cm; body mass index [BMI, calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared], 28.4; number of cigarette pack-years, 0; forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1], 97.6% predicted; FEV1: forced vital capacity [FVC] ratio, 0.71; pectoralis muscle area [PMA], 59.4 cm2; pectoralis muscle volume [PMV], 764 cm3) and a male individual with a smoking history and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) (age, 66 years; height, 178 cm; BMI, 27.5; number of cigarette pack-years, 43.2, FEV1, 48% predicted; FEV1:FVC, 0.56; PMA, 35 cm2; PMV, 480.8 cm3) from the Canadian Cohort Obstructive Lung Disease (i.e., CanCOLD) study. The CT image is shown in the axial plane. The PMV is automatically extracted using the developed deep learning model and overlayed onto the lungs for visual clarity.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/03/genkin.25LqljVF0y.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&crop=focalpoint&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
