Study of Coronary Artery Computed Tomography to Diagnose Emergency Chest Pain

Over 6 million patients per year visit hospital emergency departments for evaluation of chest pain, with diagnostic costs estimated to be in excess of $10 billion. Standard diagnostic evaluation often includes 8-12 hours of serial laboratory tests followed by stress imaging studies requiring an additional 4-8 hours.

Multi-slice coronary artery computed tomography scanning (MSCT) has been shown to be a highly accurate diagnostic method in comparison to invasive angiography. Because of its speed and high negative predictive value, MSCT could rapidly screen patients for the presence of coronary disease, which may expedite their care.

This study compares the length of stay and cost of care in emergency chest pain patients randomly assigned to initial evaluation by MSCT compared to patients randomly assigned to a standard diagnostic evaluation including single photon emission computed tomography scanning. The study follows these patients to detect major adverse cardiac events including unstable angina, acute myocardial infarction or death over a 90-day period.