Cardiologist Martha Gulati, MD, lead author of the 2021 chest pain guidelines, explained how the document may have contributed to the rise of cardiac CT. "These guidelines have made it harder for people to push back and say you don't need this test," she said. 

Several key trends at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography were outlined by society President Ed Nicol, MD, including AI, reimbursement issue, business management discussions, and a growing interest in cardiac CT leading to record attendance this year.

AI to help interpret cardiac CT was shown to reduce exam read times to improve workflow efficiency, and improve patient diagnostics with additional information on soft plaques. Data was presented in three HeartFlow AI technology studies at SCCT 2023.

Coronary CT angiography is commonly used to assess patients at low or intermediate risk of CAD but is less effective in high-risk patients with an increased presence of coronary calcifications and stents due to the “blooming” effect they have on imaging.

Prior chest imaging can sometimes be just as predictive of adverse events after surgery as updated imaging, according to new data set to be presented at the annual conference of the American College of Cardiology on March 5. 

Dual source CT scanners can eliminate the need for beta blockers to control heart rates during coronary CTA exams.  

A CCTA-based radiomics method was recently found to be more accurate in identifying potentially problematic plaques than conventional CCTA anatomical parameters alone.

While the ACC/AHA 2021 Chest Pain Assessment Guidelines included cardiac CT angiography as a top level recommendation, gaps in evidence still need to be filled.