Diagnostic Accuracy of ECG-less Gated Cardiac CT in Resuscitated Cardiac Arrest Survivors Without ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (OPEN CCTArrest)

January 29, 2026 updated by: Bert Popelier, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel

Diagnostic Accuracy of ECG-less Gated Cardiac CT in Resuscitated Cardiac Arrest Survivors

In a significant portion of patients surviving a cardiac arrest, the event is caused by a myocardial infarction (a narrowing or blockage of one or more blood vessels that supply blood to the heart, the coronary arteries). In some people, this is immediately evident from basic tests; in others, it is more difficult to predict with the currently available tests whether this (or something else) caused the cardiac arrest. We investigate a technique that allows us to also assess the coronary arteries on the CT scan that is performed in patients surviving a cardiac arrest. The coronary angiography is currently the best exam we have for examining the coronary arteries, but it has some disadvantages. Compared to the CT scan, it takes more time, needs a more complex access to the blood vessels, and has some rare but relevant possible complications. The major advantage of the coronary angiography is that there is the possibility of immediate treatment of a narrowed/blocked blood vessel of the heart. The current guidelines advice an urgent coronary angiography when a clear myocardial infarction is suggested on the electrocardiogram, but not when there is no clear indication of myocardial infarction. Nonetheless, a relevant portion (more or less 40%) of the patients without a clearly abnormal electrocardiogram, still have an important problem in the blood vessels of the heart. We aim to determine whether the CT scan provides accurate information about the condition of the blood vessels of the heart. The CT scan was already well examined for this purpose before, but in the currently conventional way it needs preparation with extra monitoring and administration of medication, which would lead to loss of precious time and potentially dangerous side effects of these drugs in this critical situation. For that reason, a new software modality was developed that allows us to examine the coronary arteries in the same CT scan, without need for additional monitoring or medication administration. It does not need additional contrast administration (the dye necessary for optimal evaluation of some diseases).

The goal of this study is to determine whether this new technique gives us the correct information about the coronary arteries. This means we acquire the images of the heart in the same scan, and verify the results with the conventional coronary angiography. If the technique provides accurate information, it could lead to a better selection of patients we need to urgently refer for a coronary angiography and to defer the exam in those who have normal coronary arteries on the scan.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is the most important treatable cause of cardiac arrest. In contrast with cardiac arrest survivors with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), current guidelines do not recommend unselected/routine urgent invasive coronary angiography (ICA) in the patients with cardiac arrest without STEMI. This recommendation reflects existing evidence indicating that immediate invasive strategies may not confer significant benefit in this population and may even be harmful, while another ongoing randomized controlled trial is investigating this. Nevertheless, in COACT, a landmark trial investigating a strategy of immediate versus delayed coronary angiography in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients without STEMI, one or more culprit coronary lesions responsible for triggering cardiac arrest were identified in 40% of the total patient population. The question remains pertinent whether well selected cardiac arrest survivors without STEMI can benefit from early ICA. Yet, current available clinical tools fail to identify these patients. Markers such as clinical history, echocardiographic abnormalities, arrest rhythm (shockable/non-shockable), ECG changes other than ST-segment elevation and troponin levels lack sufficient sensitivity and specificity in a cardiac arrest setting for predicting ACS requiring intervention.

The diagnostic value of ECG-gated cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA) for detection of both acute and chronic coronary artery syndrome is well established, with recent evidence demonstrating the additional value of fractional flow reserve (FFR)-CT in ACS. Nonetheless, the need for ECG-gating remains a limitation.

Recently an ECG-less CCTA modality was developed, but its diagnostic accuracy is still under validation. ECG-less cardiac or coronary CT angiography (CCTA) allows cardiac imaging without requiring an ECG signal from the patient. Thus, it eliminates the steps associated with using a patient-attached ECG monitor: skin preparation, attaching the ECG leads, checking impedance, and confirming that the leads provide an adequate ECG signal to the scanning system. Therefore, workflow is optimized, which is critical in an emergency setting. In situations where it is difficult to attach the ECG leads, such as patients in a resuscitation setting who already have diagnostic ECG leads in place or other instrumentation, it is also advantageous that there is no need for an ECG signal.

Cardiac arrest patients without STEMI and with no evident non-cardiac cause generally undergo CT imaging of head and chest for evaluation of potential causes of cardiac arrest (e.g. pulmonary embolism, acute aortic dissection, intracranial hemorrhage). While ECG-gated CCTA is considered the optimal modality for non-invasive coronary imaging, ECG-less CCTA might offer a highly interesting alternative with the advantages mentioned earlier. Other benefits include no substantially longer scanning time, no need for additional contrast injection or administration of betablockers.

ECG-less Cardiac software is an FDA-approved cardiac scan mode that essentially utilizes existing CT system scan technology. The system uses a wide detector coverage of 160mm to provide full heart coverage and a fast gantry speed of 0.23 seconds per rotation to perform imaging in a single cardiac cycle. An estimate of the heart rhythm has to be provided, which is often readily available because emergency patients are already monitored. Based on the heart rhythm the scanner simulates an ECG signal. This simulated ECG signal provides virtual gating of the scan. The acquisition can be performed during a full heart cycle or three-quarters or half cycle, depending on how fast the heart rhythm is. The existing cardiac software options of SmartPhase (automated phase selection) and SnapShot Freeze 2 (optimized volume registration) amplify the quality of the images and correct for motion.

Patients are scanned using a Revolution Apex Elite system (GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI -USA). The investigators use a hyperdrive pulmonary CT angiography (523mm/s with 0.28s/rotation gantry speed). After a short delay of a few seconds (5-12 sec), allowing the contrast to leave the pulmonary circulation, and enter the aorta and coronary arteries, a coronary CT angiography is performed within the same contrast bolus. No extra contrast is given to acquire the cardiac images. No intravenous beta-blocker nor sublingual nitroglycerin is administered.

The total added exam time (assessing heart rhythm, preparing the scan parameters, the delay time and the acquisition itself) is about one to two minutes.

The dose-length product (DLP) of the ECG-less cardiac scan depends on the duration of the scan time that is chosen. The average DLP is between 150 and 200 mGy.cm. The diagnostic reference level (DRL) as set by the Federal Agency for Nuclear Controle (FANC) for a coronary CT angiography is 300 mGy.cm.

The combined pulmonary CT angiography and ECG-less cardiac scan can be used to diagnose all the pathologies that can be assessed on a conventional pulmonary CT angiography scan (including, but not limited to, pneumonia, pleural fluid, pulmonary embolism, pulmonary infarct, pulmonary mass, pneumothorax, pericardial fluid, etc.) and provides extra diagnostic information about coronary artery disease.

In case the technique is well validated, future clinical questions could include whether ECG-less CCTA can help to identify a patient population of cardiac arrest survivors without STEMI that do benefit from early invasive coronary angiography and whether earlier treatment could improve outcome.

This study aims to investigate the feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of ECG-less gated CCTA in cardiac arrest survivors without STEMI, by means of agreement with ICA.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Vlaams Brabant
      • Brussels, Vlaams Brabant, Belgium, 1090

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

  • Inclusion:

    • Adults (≥18 years) with sustained return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) following in/out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
    • Informed consent from patient or representative obtained before invasive coronary angiography.
  • Exclusion

    • Patients on VA-ECMO
    • ACS STEMI or STEMI "equivalent"

      • New left/right bundle branch block
      • ST segment depression in leads V1-V3, when the terminal T wave is positive and concomitant ST-segment elevation ≥ 0,5mm recorded in leads V7-V9 (posterior MI)
      • ST-segment elevation in V7-V9 (posterior MI) or V3R-V4R (RV MI)
    • ACS NSTEMI with persistent ST depression despite optimal therapy, suggesting ongoing myocardial ischemia, with indication for an urgent ICA according to the treating physician.
    • Hemodynamic/electrical instability precluding CT imaging (as perceived by the treating physician)
    • Life-threatening arrhythmia potentially caused by acute myocardial ischemia
    • Absolute contraindications to iodinated contrast
    • Patients with a known non-cardiac cause of cardiac arrest (e.g., traumatic brain injury, overt hemorrhage, asphyxia/severe hypoxia due to known lung disease, trauma, severe metabolic/electrolyte derangement, or intoxication) as perceived by the treating physician, where chest CT is considered unnecessary.
    • Known or likely pregnancy or lactation
    • Severe bleeding issue (as perceived by the treating physician) precluding heparin administration during radial access coronary angiography.
    • Prior coronary intervention (stent implantation/CABG).
    • CT findings indicating a condition that precludes coronary angiography in the short term.
    • Patients with end-of-life care pathways.
    • Participation in another intervention study interfering with the research questions in OPEN CCT Arrest.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Cardiac arrest survivor without STEMI
Survivor of a cardiac arrest without STEMI, meeting inclusion criteria and no exclusion criteria, with informed consent from either the patient or his/her representative.
Perform ECG-less gated cardiac CT during the CT scan routinely executed after survival of cardiac arrest in patients without STEMI.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percentage of patients correctly classified to coronary artery disease as the cause of cardiac arrest after analysis of the CT scan
Time Frame: Withing 24 hours after completion of the coronary angiography (which is performed within 24 hours of the CT scan) the comparative analysis will be performed
With the invasive coronary angiography as a gold standard, the investigator will assess whether the CT scan correctly allocated the patient to coronary versus non coronary cause of cardiac arrest
Withing 24 hours after completion of the coronary angiography (which is performed within 24 hours of the CT scan) the comparative analysis will be performed

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Level of agreement on the estimated percentage of coronary artery stenosis between CCTA and ICA
Time Frame: Withing 24 hours after completion of the coronary angiography (which is performed within 24 hours of the CT scan) the comparative analysis will be performed

The degree of coronary stenosis will be estimated per-vessel (left main coronary artery, left anterior descendens, left circumflex artery and right coronary artery).

The results will be reported as categorical variables: < 25%, 25-50%, 51-70%, 71-90%, >90% or insufficient image quality.

Withing 24 hours after completion of the coronary angiography (which is performed within 24 hours of the CT scan) the comparative analysis will be performed
Feasibility of ECG-less gated CCTA in resuscitated patients
Time Frame: Within 24 hours after completion of the coronary angiography (which is performed within 24 hours of the CT scan) the analysis will be performed
Percentage of patients where data on coronary stenosis based on ECG-less CCTA cannot be provided or is incompletely provided.
Within 24 hours after completion of the coronary angiography (which is performed within 24 hours of the CT scan) the analysis will be performed
Reasons for failure of ECG-less gated CCTA image acquisition
Time Frame: Within 24 hours after completion of the coronary angiography (which is performed within 24 hours of the CT scan) the analysis will be performed
Registrations of reasons for failure of complete CCTA reporting (eg incorrect timing, tachycardia/irregular heart rhythm...)
Within 24 hours after completion of the coronary angiography (which is performed within 24 hours of the CT scan) the analysis will be performed
Survival
Time Frame: 90 days after enrollment
Survival status assessed by analysis of the electronic medical record
90 days after enrollment
Severe neurologic deficit
Time Frame: 90 days after enrollment

Severe neurologic deficit definined as Modified Rankin Scale ≥ 3, assessed by consultation of the electronic health record (Y/N).

The Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) is a scale used to assess the degree of disability or dependence. It is a 7-point scale, ranging from 0 (no symptoms) to 6 (death), designed to evaluate how well a patient can perform daily activities and how much assistance they need.

90 days after enrollment
Peak troponin release
Time Frame: 90 days after enrollment
Peak high sensitivity troponin T (ng/L) level during hospitalisation
90 days after enrollment
Length of ICU stay
Time Frame: 90 days after enrollment
Length of ICU stay (days)
90 days after enrollment
Duration of catecholamine support
Time Frame: 90 days after enrollment
Duration of catecholamine support (days) assessed by analysis of the electronic medical record
90 days after enrollment
Peak SAPS II score
Time Frame: 90 days after enrollment

The SAP II (Simplified Acute Physiology Score II) is a scoring system used to assess the severity of illness in critically ill patients, particularly those in intensive care units (ICU). It's designed to predict the risk of mortality based on various physiological variables measured in the first 24 hours of ICU admission.

The score is calculated using 17 different clinical parameters, which include vital signs, lab results, and other physiological data. These parameters are categorized and assigned points, and the total score provides an estimate of the patient's risk of dying in the hospital.

The score can range from 0 to 163. Higher scores indicate more severe illness and a higher risk of death.

90 days after enrollment
Rehospitalization for heart failure
Time Frame: 90 days after enrollment
Rehospitalization for heart failure (Y/N), assessed by analysis of the electronic medical record
90 days after enrollment
Acute kidney injury (AKI)
Time Frame: 90 days after enrollment

Development of AKI according to KDIGO definition (Y/N). AKI is diagnosed when there is a sudden decline in kidney function, defined by one of the following criteria:

Serum Creatinine Criteria:

  • Stage 1: Increase in serum creatinine by ≥ 0.3 mg/dL (≥ 26.5 µmol/L) within 48 hours, or increase to 1.5-1.9 times baseline.
  • Stage 2: Increase in serum creatinine to 2.0-2.9 times baseline.
  • Stage 3: Increase in serum creatinine to 3.0 times baseline, or serum creatinine ≥ 4.0 mg/dL (≥ 354 µmol/L), or initiation of renal replacement therapy (dialysis), or in patients less than 18 years old, a decrease in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) to < 35 mL/min/1.73 m².

Urine Output Criteria:

Stage 1: Urine output < 0.5 mL/kg/hour for 6-12 hours. Stage 2: Urine output < 0.5 mL/kg/hour for ≥ 12 hours. Stage 3: Urine output < 0.3 mL/kg/hour for ≥ 24 hours, or anuria for ≥ 12 hours.

90 days after enrollment
Need for renal replacement therapy (RRT)
Time Frame: 90 days after enrollment
Need for renal replacement therapy (RRT) (Y/N)
90 days after enrollment
ISTH major bleeding event
Time Frame: 90 days after enrollment

Development of ISTH Major Bleeding Definition:

According to the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH), a major bleeding event is one that involves at least one of the following:

  • Fatal Bleeding
  • Bleeding that Requires a Transfusion: requires the administration of 2 or more units of packed red blood cells (PRBCs) or equivalent blood products to treat blood loss.
  • Bleeding that Causes a Significant Drop in Hemoglobin: A decrease in hemoglobin of 2 g/dL or more or a hematocrit drop of ≥ 6%.
  • Bleeding that Requires Surgical Intervention
  • Intracranial Hemorrhage (ICH):
  • Other Severe Bleeding: Any other bleeding that is severe, for example, bleeding into a vital organ (e.g., bleeding into the eye causing loss of vision, or into the lungs causing respiratory compromise).
90 days after enrollment
Ischemic stroke
Time Frame: 90 days after enrollment
Development of ischemic stroke (Y/N)
90 days after enrollment
Need for mechanical circulatory support (MCS)
Time Frame: 90 days after enrollment
Need for mechanical circulatory support (MCS) (Y/N) Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS) refers to the use of devices designed to support or assist the heart's ability to pump blood, typically in patients with acute or chronic heart failure. These devices are used to maintain or improve cardiac output in cases where the heart is not functioning adequately, often as a bridge to recovery, a bridge to heart transplantation, or as a long-term solution for patients who are not candidates for a transplant.
90 days after enrollment
Treatment with Dual Antiplatelet Therapy (DAPT)
Time Frame: 90 days after enrollment
Treatment with Dual Antiplatelet Therapy (DAPT) (Y/N)
90 days after enrollment
LV systolic function
Time Frame: 90 days after enrollment
Left ventricular systolic function assessed by ejection fraction (LVEF) on ambulatory follow-up visit
90 days after enrollment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

September 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 15, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 29, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

February 5, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 5, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 29, 2026

Last Verified

January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Cardiac Arrest (CA)

Clinical Trials on ECG-less gated cardiac CT

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