The Stethoscope

KYW Medical Reports Sponsored By Independence Blue Cross

By Dr. Brian McDonough, Medical Editor

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The stethoscope is one of the greatest symbols of medicine and for almost 200 years it has been perhaps the most valuable tool in helping doctors diagnose everything from pneumonia to heart failure, but the stethoscope is under attack these days with some saying it is an obsolete low-tech vestige of an antiquated era. Technology enthusiasts argue that the stethoscope should be replaced by portable ultrasound devices.

It sounds cruel but they are saying that the stethoscope's 200th birthday should also be its funeral. Those who argue in favor of ultrasound say there is evidence that ultrasound is more accurate even than chest x-ray in the detection of pneumothorax, pleural effusion, and perhaps even pneumonia.

In an editorial in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the physician author said that there are definitely great things that the ultrasound provides but we cannot teach our medical students to become reliant upon advanced technologies without which they become useless.