VIDEO: The new role of cardiac CT in chest pain evaluation

He outlines the ACC 2021 Chest Pain Evaluation Guidelines, what is needed to perform cardiac CT angiography (CTA), how CTA can help speed patient triage in the emergency department (ED) and how it can help avoid invasive angiography in the cath lab. He said mass General has been using CTA as a primary test to evaluate chest pain patients since 2014.

"It's a disruptive technology," Ghoshhajra explained. "It can certainly obliviate the need for invasive tests. What is well codified in the new guidelines is that there are many first line test for different types of patients, and sometimes there are choices. We strongly feel CT is often a first-line test, more so than what prior guidelines had reflected. I would say the first-line indication is highly appropriate in a large and ever growing number of patients."

He said CTA can help speed patient triage and determine if a patient is having a coronary issue or not pretty quickly

He said most EDs now have 64-slice and greater CT scanners that are cardiac capable. But, he said creating a cardiac CT program does require expertise so staff may require additional training.   

"It does require expertise, both on the acquisition as well as the interpretation side of things," he said.  

Ghoshhajra also explains the role of FFR-CT, which was specifically included in the guidelines to help pull additional diagnostic information from CTA scans when it is unclear if a patient's plaque burden is causing chest pain, or to determine if a patient can be managed medically. 

Related Cardiac CT and Chest Pain Guideline Content:

VIDEO: The new role of cardiac CT in chest pain evaluation — Interview with Brian Ghoshhajra, MD

VIDEO: Cardiac CT training requirements for radiologists and technologists — Interview with Brian Ghoshhajra MD

Cardiac CT soft plaque assessment my offer paradigm shift for coronary disease screening.

VIDEO: The new role of cardiac CT under the 2021 chest pain evaluation guidelines — Interview with Eric Williamson, MD

VIDEO: Top 6 takeaways from the Society of Cardiovascular CT 2022 meeting — interview with Eric Williamson, MD

New AI software a low-cost, efficient option for coronary artery calcium scoring

VIDEO: Office-based cardiac CT and FFR-CT offer a new business model

VIDEO: Cardiac CT now recommended as a front-line chest pain assessment tool — Interview with Leslee Shaw, PhD

PHOTO GALLERY: Duly Health adopts outpatient cardiac CT as a standard of care

Find more SCCT video and news

Find more cardiac CT news and video

Dave Fornell is a digital editor with Cardiovascular Business and Radiology Business magazines. He has been covering healthcare for more than 16 years.

Dave Fornell has covered healthcare for more than 17 years, with a focus in cardiology and radiology. Fornell is a 5-time winner of a Jesse H. Neal Award, the most prestigious editorial honors in the field of specialized journalism. The wins included best technical content, best use of social media and best COVID-19 coverage. Fornell was also a three-time Neal finalist for best range of work by a single author. He produces more than 100 editorial videos each year, most of them interviews with key opinion leaders in medicine. He also writes technical articles, covers key trends, conducts video hospital site visits, and is very involved with social media. E-mail: dfornell@innovatehealthcare.com

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