Buyline Blog

HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY INFORMATION AND INSIGHT FROM MD BUYLINE EXPERT ANALYSTS

Posts Tagged ‘blood test’

Blood Test, then MRI = New Diagnostic Path for Breast Cancer

By
March 24, 2011

How good are breast cancer blood tests? Digital mammography has an accuracy rate for women under age 50 at 84%; film mammography, 69%. The published results for the BT test reflect 97% accuracy. For women over 50, digital mammography has an accuracy rate at 77%; film, 75%; BT, 86% accuracy. Read More »

Cardiology: A Blood Test for Coronary Artery Disease

By
February 24, 2011

A blood test that can identify obstructive coronary artery disease in its early stages? Talk about an impact considering over 17 million Americans suffer from coronary artery disease (CAD), a treatable disease if diagnosed early. Technologies such as PET, CTA, and MRI have come a long way in assisting in diagnosing CAD before a cath lab is required, but due to safety concerns and a cost-sensitive environment, they are not prescribed until symptoms appear. Read More »

By
October 11, 2010

Clinical trials for a serum protein-based algorithm used for the detection of Alzheimer’s show that blood tests have about 95% accuracy when patient demographics are included. Dr. Trojanowski noted, “Specificity in the 90% range is high enough to guide a diagnosis, but people would like to see 100% specificity and sensitivity in a biomarker test. These numbers for any test are rare. So getting a test for Alzheimer's with a sensitivity and specificity in the 90% range would be deemed informative." Read More »