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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Suggest Whether Ultra Sound Or CT Scan Is More Accurate

I am a 45 white male. I had a heart attack 1 year ago. I had my year check up and an ultrasound was ordered for my coratid arteries which came back with a narrowing of the right one in the range of 70-99%. An appt was made for a CT scan and a consult with the Dr. who would perform the stenting proceedure. However, when I met with him, he read the results of the CT which came back as 50% (treatable with the medication I already take). My question is which test is more accurate, the ultra sound or the CT? Why would the second Dr. want more invasive test now-angiogram? I'm confused, afraid and miffed at all this expensive testing.
Wed, 26 Nov 2014
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Radiologist,  's  Response
Hi,
Thanks for writing in.

For carotid artery luminal assessment both ultrasound Doppler and CT scan are widely used. While ultrasound examination is more of a skill based technique, CT scan is completely machine based. Going by the above, the chances of error on CT scan are less.Another point to be noted is that ultrasound is used to assess the carotid artery at particular levels and CT scan gives information of the carotids along its entire course. There are times when overestimation occurs in ultrasound assessment leading to erroneous results. Ct scan gives images in every projection and uses caliberated tools to measure the narrowing. Artifacts are more common on ultrasound. In my opinion the CT scan is more trustable for the reasons mentioned earlier.
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Suggest Whether Ultra Sound Or CT Scan Is More Accurate

Hi, Thanks for writing in. For carotid artery luminal assessment both ultrasound Doppler and CT scan are widely used. While ultrasound examination is more of a skill based technique, CT scan is completely machine based. Going by the above, the chances of error on CT scan are less.Another point to be noted is that ultrasound is used to assess the carotid artery at particular levels and CT scan gives information of the carotids along its entire course. There are times when overestimation occurs in ultrasound assessment leading to erroneous results. Ct scan gives images in every projection and uses caliberated tools to measure the narrowing. Artifacts are more common on ultrasound. In my opinion the CT scan is more trustable for the reasons mentioned earlier.