Annual CT Lung Screening Saves Lives

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Nov. 4, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The physicians of Westside Medical Associates of Los Angeles and Westside Medical Imaging in Beverly Hills, California have announced the results of a pivotal, U.S. government sponsored trial showing that annual screening CT scans save lives.  According to Drs. Norman Lepor and Hooman Madyoon, co-directors of imaging at Westside Medical Imaging, this study should once and for all settle the controversy regarding the utility of screening CT of the lungs in saving lives. According to Dr. Norman Lepor, "We have argued for some time that this is a life saving examination and have offered it to our patients."  Dr. Lepor continues, "It is clear that in patients at risk, particularly those who have smoked for over 10 years, this is an indispensable part of your annual examination since cure rates are over 90% if the cancer is identified in the early stages with CT imaging, and only 10% if one waits to see an abnormality on a chest x-ray, which is the most commonly used screening exam in doctors' offices." According to Westside Medical Imaging's Chief of Radiology, Dr. Elliot Kolin, "Not every imaging center takes the time and effort to review all lung CT studies with three-dimensional viewing as is the case in our center." You must be sure that all studies are read in a workstation with 3-D capabilities and that the radiologist is highly skilled at evaluating chest CT's. Our use of low radiation, Green Imaging® protocols with 64 slice CT is the ideal imaging approach. It also limits exposure without giving up image quality making the risk: benefit in favor of the screening. According to Dr. Christine Berg of the National Cancer Institute, "This is the first time that we have seen clear evidence of a significant reduction in lung cancer mortality with a screening test in a randomized controlled trial."

The trial, called the National Lung Screening Trial, involved more than 53,000 current and former heavy smokers between the ages of 55 and 74 who were given either a standard chest x-ray or a low-dose CT scan at the start of the trial and then twice more over the next two years. The participants were followed for up to five years. There were only 354 lung cancer deaths among those who received CT scans, and 442 lung cancer deaths among those who received conventional X-rays. According to Dr. Robert McKenna, an internationally renowned chest surgeon at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, who pioneered the video assisted thoracic surgery procedure, "Early identification of lung cancer with CT and then surgical removal, if it has not spread, is key to cure."

Please feel free to contact Westside Medical Imaging in Beverly Hills at 310-623-1150 or through our website at www.westsidemedimaging.com

SOURCE Westside Medical Imaging