Coronary artery CT in the emergency department

Chest pain is an extremely common symptom and results in around 700,000 (5%) presentations to the emergency department (ED) in England and Wales and accounts for 25% of hospital admissions. However, only a minority of these patients (8%) actually have acute coronary syndrome (ACS), which is the umbrella term for acute chest pain due to underlying coronary artery disease (CAD). The early triage of patients with acute chest pain is clearly imperative to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and to identify patients who would benefit from early revascularisation or medical therapy; however this is not an easy task.

We highlight the potential role of coronary artery computed tomography (CTCA) in the assessment of such patients.

The content on this page is provided by the individuals concerned and does not represent the views or opinions of RAD Magazine.