CAT scans vs MRI scans

[Monticore]

Originally Posted by SupDock

Just checked. Went to the source article and it wasn’t in the abstract.

I brief lit review indicates 60-80 percent negative predictive value.

My opinion is that even with a higher negative predictive value you are still left with no diagnosis.

I am thinking of a patient in the ED with flank pain and hematuria. CT just makes more sense to me.

Your point about cumulative radiation exposure is a good one though. A major bias in medicine is worrying more about a missed diagnosis than the risk of the test or procedure.

Our department didn’t have a CT until recently so U/S was the go to otherwise the patient had to be shipped to another hospital, so I tried getting good at it.