Invasive diagnostic coronary angiograms have been the backbone of coronary artery disease (CAD) assessment for decades. However, many cardiology experts are predicting the rapid growth of coronary CT angiography (CCTA) will very soon eliminate the need for catheterizing patients just for diagnostic purposes. Rather, invasive cardiac catheterization will be used just to perform percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), but we will screen and make treatment decisions based on CCTA.
Thought leaders in cardiac CT have been discussing the potential of such a trend for years, and now CT hardware, software and artificial intelligence (AI) have all caught up enough that it truly seems possible. In fact, interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons have now joined cardiac imagers in support of CCTA.
New CCTA technology, especially AI-driven advances in automation thanks to fractional flow reserve (FFR-CT) and soft plaque analysis, has given noninvasive CT diagnostic capabilities far beyond those of invasive angiography.
In addition, CCTA can support rural hospitals that don’t have cath labs and decrease the number of patients that require transfer to tertiary centers through more precise diagnostics of NSTEMI. The combination of AI and CCTA could help in those areas.
Some CT scanners are now more affordable and versatile pieces of equipment for hospitals and physician practices to obtain and operate. The newer software and AI tools streamline the training and workflows, providing efficient tools for diagnosis of coronary artery and valvular conditions.
Does your practice have the best options for cost effective identification of coronary artery disease?
