PET CT could change which patients end up in the cath lab—and which ones don’t.

This episode gets into the heart tests, stents, and real-world decisions cardiologists debate every day.

The Blue Collar ICs crew sits down with interventional cardiologist Steve to break down stress PET CT versus traditional nuclear stress testing, coronary flow reserve, microvascular disease, calcium scores, coronary CTA, and the limits of testing anatomy without physiology. They also debate when a severe coronary blockage should actually be stented, where drug-coated balloons fit into PCI, and whether CT-guided PCI planning is genuinely useful or just another trend.

The conversation also goes beyond the cath lab into private practice, hospital employment, cardiology economics, EP demand, and why experience doing cases every day matters.

Topics include PET CT, stress testing, myocardial ischemia, coronary artery disease, coronary flow reserve, microvascular disease, calcium scoring, coronary CTA, PCI, stents, drug-coated balloons, interventional cardiology, private practice, and the cath lab.

Subscribe to Blue Collar ICs for straight talk from cardiologists working on the front lines—and share this episode with someone who lives in the cath lab.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.