Care guided by CTA and selective FFRCT was associated with equivalent clinical outcomes and quality of life, and lower costs, compared with usual care in patients with stable chest pain.
Does care guided by CTA and selective FFRCT improve clinical outcomes, QOL, and costs compared to usual care in patients with stable chest pain and planned invasive coronary angiography?
A CTA and selective FFRCT-guided strategy provides equivalent clinical outcomes and quality of life at lower costs compared to usual care in patients with stable chest pain planned for invasive angiography.
Absolute Event Rate: 0% vs 0%
BACKGROUND: Coronary computed tomographic angiography (CTA) plus estimation of fractional flow reserve using CTA (FFRCT) safely and effectively guides initial care over 90 days in patients with stable chest pain. Longer-term outcomes are unknown. OBJECTIVES: The study sought to determine the 1-year clinical, economic, and quality-of-life (QOL) outcomes of using FFRCT instead of usual care. METHODS: Consecutive patients with stable, new onset chest pain were managed by either usual testing (n = 287) or CTA (n = 297) with selective FFRCT (submitted in 201, analyzed in 177) ; 581 of 584 (99. 5%) completed 1-year follow-up. Endpoints were adjudicated major adverse cardiac events (MACE) (death, myocardial infarction, unplanned revascularization), total medical costs, and QOL. RESULTS: Patients averaged 61 years of age with a mean 49% pre-test probability of coronary artery disease. At 1 year, MACE events were infrequent, with 2 in each arm of the planned invasive group and 1 in the planned noninvasive cohort (usual care strategy). In the planned invasive stratum, mean costs were 33% lower with CTA and selective FFRCT (8, 127 vs. 12, 145 usual care; p < 0. 0001) ; in the planned noninvasive stratum, mean costs did not differ when using an FFRCT cost weight of zero (3, 049 FFRCT vs. 2, 579; p = 0. 82), but were higher when using an FFRCT cost weight equal to CTA. QOL scores improved overall at 1 year (p < 0. 001), with similar improvements in both groups, apart from the 5-item EuroQOL scale scores in the noninvasive stratum (mean change of 0. 12 for FFRCT vs. 0. 07 for usual care; p = 0. 02). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with stable chest pain and planned invasive coronary angiography, care guided by CTA and selective FFRCT was associated with equivalent clinical outcomes and QOL, and lower costs, compared with usual care over 1-year follow-up. (The PLATFORM Study: Prospective LongitudinAl Trial of FFRct: Outcome and Resource IMpacts PLATFORM; NCT01943903).
“The one-year data affirms use of the HeartFlow Analysis can in many patients safely eliminate the need for invasive catheterizations, and markedly reduce cost of care in patients with suspected coronary artery disease. This represents a significant advance in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with stable chest pain, who previously may have been sent for unnecessary invasive testing to determine appropriate treatment pathways.”
Douglas et al. (Mon,) reported a other. Care guided by CTA and selective FFRCT was associated with equivalent clinical outcomes and quality of life, and lower costs, compared with usual care in patients with stable chest pain.