Coronary CT angiography (CCTA) performed on patients with acute chest pain provides lower radiation dose and yielded fewer unpleasant experiences among the patients than SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), according to a study published in the 

Researchers from Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York, performed a randomized, controlled, comparative effectiveness trial in order to compare CCTA with conventional noninvasive testing.

A total of 400 patients with acute chest pain, mean age 57, participated in the study:

The results showed that the CCTA and MPI groups did not significantly differ in outcomes or resource utilization over 40 months:

“More patients in the CCTA group graded their experience favorably and would undergo the examination again,” the authors wrote.

Cardiac MRI

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Patients who undergo coronary CT angiography receive lower radiation doses and are more pleased with the experience than with MPI.

	CCTA	MPI
Cardiac catheterization within 1 year	30 patients (15%)	32 patients (16%)
No revascularization within 1 year	15 patients (7.5%)	20 patients (10%)
Median length of stay	28.9 hours	30.4 hours
Incidence of death over follow-up	0.5%	3%
Nonfatal cardiovascular events	4.5%	4.5%
Rehospitalization	43%	49%
Emergency department visit	63%	58%
Outpatient cardiology visit	23%	21%
Long-term, all-cause radiation exposure	24 mSv	29 mSv

CCTA More Positive Patient Experience Than MPI