Impact of renal dysfunction on the choice of diagnostic imaging, treatment strategy, and outcomes in patients with stable angina

We investigated the interaction between the prognostic impact of a decrease in eGFR and the choice of initial diagnostic imaging modality for coronary artery disease. Out of 2878 patients who enrolled in the J-COMPASS study, 2780 patients underwent single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography, or coronary angiography (CAG) as an initial diagnostic test. After excluding patients with routine hemodialysis or lacked serum creatinine levels, 2096 patients in the non-decreased eGFR group (eGFR ≥ 60 ml/min/1.73 m 2 ) and 557 patients in the decreased eGFR group (eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73 m 2 ) were analyzed in this study. Major adverse cardiac events, including death, myocardial infarction, heart failure hospitalization, and late revascularization, were followed, with a median follow-up duration of 472 days. SPECT or CAG was preferable to CT in patients in the decreased eGFR group (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.0024, respectively). There was a marginally significant interaction between the prognostic impact of a decrease in eGFR and the choice of diagnostic imaging modality (interaction-p = 0.056). A decrease in eGFR was not associated with a poor outcome in patients who underwent CT, while a decrease in eGFR was associated with poor outcomes in patients who underwent SPECT or CAG. In conclusion, the prognostic impact of a decrease in eGFR tended to be different among the initial imaging modalities.