Cardiologist Martha Gulati, MD, lead author of the 2021 chest pain guidelines, explained how the document may have contributed to the rise of cardiac CT. "These guidelines have made it harder for people to push back and say you don't need this test," she said. 

New research from a team of specialists at Cleveland Clinic included data from more than 2,000 TAVR patients.

Out of more than 250 abstracts submitted at its annual meeting in Boston, SCCT named one winner and two runners-up. 

Several key trends at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography were outlined by society President Ed Nicol, MD, including AI, reimbursement issue, business management discussions, and a growing interest in cardiac CT leading to record attendance this year.

AI to help interpret cardiac CT was shown to reduce exam read times to improve workflow efficiency, and improve patient diagnostics with additional information on soft plaques. Data was presented in three HeartFlow AI technology studies at SCCT 2023.

The group collaborated with two other medical societies, SCAI and CHSS, on the expert consensus document. 

Coronary CT angiography is commonly used to assess patients at low or intermediate risk of CAD but is less effective in high-risk patients with an increased presence of coronary calcifications and stents due to the “blooming” effect they have on imaging.

The new analysis, published in JAMA, suggests that CT results can help identify medium- and high-risk patients who may need to be considered for statin therapy or other preventive treatments.