Scans may cut heart attack risk

Edinburgh: Routine heart scans for patients referred to cardiac clinics with chest pain could reduce heart attack rates, research suggests. The scans would help doctors to make better treatment decisions which could ultimately save lives, researchers say.

Researchers found that around a quarter of patients had their diagnoses reclassified after receiving the scan, prompting new treatments in many cases.The study also found that the number of heart attacks that occurred in patients who had received the scan dropped by around a third in the subsequent twenty months of follow-up.

"Our findings are encouraging. However, the overall rate of heart attacks was low and we need to follow them for longer to confirm whether the technology helps to save lives in the long-term."

David Newby

British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiology, Centre for Cardiovascular Science

In a separate study, researchers are to investigate whether giving the scans to all patients who arrive at hospital emergency departments with chest pains can also help to cut heart attack rates.

"Cardiac CT scans offer many advantages in helping to diagnose heart disease faster. Our goal is to gather evidence for any clinical and cost benefits of the technology before it is widely adopted by the NHS."

Dr Alasdair Gray

Honorary Reader, Centre for Cardiovascular Science

At the moment, heart patients are given an angiogram, which checks the blood flow through their heart to identify any obstructions that could pose a heart attack risk.
Cardiac CT scans enable doctors to look at the blood vessels within the heart more easily. They are around an eighth of the cost of an angiogram and are safer for patients.