Is listening through a stethoscope a dying art?
For nearly 200 years, doctors have confidently slung stethoscopes around their necks, and listened to hearts flutter, bowels rumble, and blocked arteries swoosh. But as doctors increasingly rely on technology to diagnose heart disease, a growing chorus of mostly younger cardiologists is questioning the value of the stethoscope. For many doctors, the low-technology amplification doesn’t compare to the high-tech images and more precise data they can gather from an echocardiogram. Over the past seven years, the number of “echoes” ordered nationally has nearly doubled — from 11 million in 1996 to 21 million in 2003, according to a study published annually by Pennsylvania-based Arlington Medical Resources Inc. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/hea…
