CT-FFR reduces invasive procedures for coronary artery blockages

CT fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) imaging identifies patients with coronary artery blockage or narrowing who could benefit from revascularization -- and helps reduce the unnecessary use of invasive procedures, researchers have found. A team led by Mangun Kaur Randhawa, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston reported that individuals with significant narrowing and/or blockages identified on coronary CT angiography (CTA) who underwent CT-FFR had lower rates of invasive coronary angiography and ensuing percutaneous coronary intervention than patients who were not referred for a CT-FFR. The research was published April 11 in Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging. "In patients with moderate narrowing or blockage of the arteries, there can be ambiguity about who would benefit from invasive testing and revascularization procedures," Randhawa said in a statement released by the RSNA. "CT-FFR helps us identify and select those patients who are most likely to benefit." Coronary CTA is the go-to exam for diagnosing narrowed or blocked arteries in the heart, and it produces a score from mild blockage (0-1) to moderate (2-3) to severe (4-5). Individuals with scores above 3 tend to need medical interventions such as revascularization via stents or surgery to restore blood flow to the heart, the authors noted. Furthermore, clinicians have tended to use invasive coronary angiography and fractional flow reserve to assess blockages in the heart, but these tests don't always reliably ...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: CT Cardiovascular Radiology Source Type: news