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Sat, 12 Jan 2002 13:52:28 +0200 (IST)

On Sat, 5 Jan 2002 KMATTOX@aol.com wrote:

> Next someone will write an article about the ability of CT to determine 
> hematocrit, blood alcohol levels, and bilirubin levels.  

In truth, it may be possible.  Few people, even cardiologists, know that
there are ECG changes typical to coma.  There are. Skilled ECG
interpreters can tell that a patient is in coma, without seeing the
patient.  

The pitch and pattern of a murmur is very telling. Some past generation
cardiologists could listen to the heart, and tell you the pressure
gradient across the pulomonic or mitral valve.

Both skills are awesome. But are they of any use?  Do you need an ECG to
diagnose coma, or would anyone operate on the pulmonic valve without a
cath? 

It is quite possible that a skilled radiologist can read hypovolemia on
the CT scan images. However, it is just as useless as reading coma on an
ECG. 

Avi 

==========================================================================
Aviel Roy-Shapira, M.D.              Soroka University Hospital &
Dept. of Surgery A. and              Ben-Gurion University Medical School 
the Critical Care Unit               POB 151, Beer Sheva, Israel

email:avir@bgumail.bgu.ac.il         Fax:972-7-6403260 voice:972-7-6403390

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a new case - hypovolemic changes seen in CT