CT Scans Rapidly Rule Out Heart Attacks in Emergency Room Patients with Chest Pain

Contact: Holly Auer
holly.auer@uphs.upenn.edu
215-200-2313
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

CT Scans Rapidly Rule Out Heart Attacks in Emergency Room Patients with Chest Pain

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Caption: A highly detailed CT scan of the heart can safely and quickly rule out the possibility of a heart attack among many patients who come to hospital emergency rooms with chest pain, according to the results of a study that will be presented by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania today at the American College of Cardiology’s 61st Annual Scientific Session and published concurrently in the New England Journal of Medicine. The multicenter randomized trial comparing coronary CT angiography (CCTA) and traditional cardiac testing methods revealed that chest pain patients with negative CT scans can be discharged safely from the hospital within hours. The findings may offer a new strategy for relieving the emergency room crowding that plagues many of America’s hospitals, and could help to trim millions of dollars off the costs of care for one of the leading causes of ER visits.

Credit: Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

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