Cypros
Well-Known Member
This is just amazing.
Study: More Americans too fat for X-rays, scans
Obesity hurting accuracy of images, doctors say.
More and more obese people are unable to get full medical care because they are either too big to fit into scanners, or their fat is too dense for X-rays or sound waves to penetrate, radiologists reported Tuesday.
With 64 percent of the U.S. population either overweight or obese, the problem is worsening, but it represents a business opportunity for equipment makers and hospitals, said Dr. Raul Uppot, a radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
...
The researchers looked more closely at the records of 200 of the patients, who weighed, on average, 239 pounds.
"It is a major issue because ... the patient may still have a tumor, the patient may have appendicitis, the patient may have other inflammatory processes," Uppot said.
"This is affecting radiologists all over the country."
Ultrasounds are most affected, Uppot said.
"In an obese person, because the ultrasound beam does not get to the organs or get to them adequately enough, we cannot get a picture. It looks like a snowstorm -- I don't know if you have seen those televisions where it is just whiteout? It looks like that."
An MRI can get a good picture if the patient can fit into the tube or get onto the table, Uppot said. Some manufacturers have started to make MRI machines with larger-bore holes, but with the cost in the millions of dollars per machine, only large groups or institutions can afford them.
...
One problem is with gastric bypass surgery, where the patients are by definition obese, Uppot said.
"If there is some complication -- abdominal pain or an infection or fever -- they are invariably at higher risk of not being able to be imaged with a CT or MRI," Uppot said.
"For the surgeon, he doesn't want to take the patient back to surgery to explore to see what the problem is," he added.
"For the patient, not knowing what is going on is a big issue. If you tell a patient 'I am sorry -- we just can't sit you on our CT scanner,' that is devastating to hear."
Study: More Americans too fat for X-rays, scans
Obesity hurting accuracy of images, doctors say.
More and more obese people are unable to get full medical care because they are either too big to fit into scanners, or their fat is too dense for X-rays or sound waves to penetrate, radiologists reported Tuesday.
With 64 percent of the U.S. population either overweight or obese, the problem is worsening, but it represents a business opportunity for equipment makers and hospitals, said Dr. Raul Uppot, a radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
...
The researchers looked more closely at the records of 200 of the patients, who weighed, on average, 239 pounds.
"It is a major issue because ... the patient may still have a tumor, the patient may have appendicitis, the patient may have other inflammatory processes," Uppot said.
"This is affecting radiologists all over the country."
Ultrasounds are most affected, Uppot said.
"In an obese person, because the ultrasound beam does not get to the organs or get to them adequately enough, we cannot get a picture. It looks like a snowstorm -- I don't know if you have seen those televisions where it is just whiteout? It looks like that."
An MRI can get a good picture if the patient can fit into the tube or get onto the table, Uppot said. Some manufacturers have started to make MRI machines with larger-bore holes, but with the cost in the millions of dollars per machine, only large groups or institutions can afford them.
...
One problem is with gastric bypass surgery, where the patients are by definition obese, Uppot said.
"If there is some complication -- abdominal pain or an infection or fever -- they are invariably at higher risk of not being able to be imaged with a CT or MRI," Uppot said.
"For the surgeon, he doesn't want to take the patient back to surgery to explore to see what the problem is," he added.
"For the patient, not knowing what is going on is a big issue. If you tell a patient 'I am sorry -- we just can't sit you on our CT scanner,' that is devastating to hear."