CT as effective as invasive angiography for guiding treatment of stable chest pain

Reuters Health - 04/03/2022 - Patients with coronary-artery disease (CAD) do just as well when their treatment is guided by computed tomography as they do with invasive coronary angiography, and with fewer procedure-related complications, according to findings from the DISCHARGE trial. The study, conducted at 26 European centers and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, included 3,561 volunteers with stable chest pain and an intermediate pretest probability of obstructive CAD. Over 3.5 years, 2.1% of the people whose care was guided by CT suffered a heart attack, stroke or died from a cardiovascular cause. The rate was 3.0% with invasive angiography (P=0.10). When the study team looked at major procedure-related complications, the respective rates were 0.5% and 1.9%, a significant 74% reduction. The researchers found a 17% increase in angina among the CT-treated patients but the difference wasn't statistically significant. Rates were 8.8% f...

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Posted on 4 March, 20228 March, 2022