New Study Finds CT Not Powerful Enough for Accurate Mesothelioma Diagnosis, According to Surviving Mesothelioma

Scottish researchers say contrast-enhanced CT scanning is not sensitive enough to either confirm or rule out pleural mesothelioma.

Raleigh, NC (PRWEB) January 05, 2017

A new study performed in Glasgow found that CT scanning, an imaging procedure that utilizes X-rays to create detailed three-dimensional images, was able to accurately identify pleural mesothelioma only about 58 percent of the time. Surviving Mesothelioma has just published an article on the new report. Click here to read it now.

Researchers at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital looked at the cases of more than 300 pleural mesothelioma patients, comparing their CT results with their final diagnoses.

"The diagnostic performance of CT in routine clinical practice is insufficient to exclude or confirm pleural mesothelioma," writes Dr. Selina Tsim with the Pleural Disease Unit at Queen Elizabeth.

Although CT scans that were interpreted by specialized thoracic radiologists tended to be more accurate, the study suggests that a negative CT scan should not negate the need for pleural biopsy in cases of suspected mesothelioma.

"Most people suspected of having pleural mesothelioma will undergo a CT scan at some point and this study can help put the those results into perspective," says Alex Strauss, Managing Editor of Surviving Mesothelioma.

For all the details of the new CT study, including some of what is being done to help improve the diagnostic accuracy of CT for mesothelioma, see Diagnostic Accuracy of CT Limited for Pleural Mesothelioma, now available on the Surviving Mesothelioma website.

Tsim, S, et al, "The diagnostic performance of routinely acquired and reported computed tomography imaging in patients presenting with suspected pleural malignancy", January 2017, pp. 38 - 43, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28024694

For nearly ten years, Surviving Mesothelioma has brought readers the most important and ground-breaking news on the causes, diagnosis and treatment of mesothelioma. All Surviving Mesothelioma news is gathered and reported directly from the peer-reviewed medical literature. Written for patients and their loved ones, Surviving Mesothelioma news helps families make more informed decisions.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/01/prweb13956446.htm