The American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) recently published their ACC/AHA Chest Pain Guidelines. This marks the first update to these official clinical practice guidelines in nearly a decade. From an imaging perspective, CCTA and FFRct provide valuable diagnostic and treatment information. For referring cardiologists, significant changes worth noting include:
- Elevating coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) as the only Class 1 noninvasive test with Level A evidence for diagnosing coronary artery disease (CAD) and guiding treatment decisions.
- Endorsing fractional flow reserve derived from CT (FFRct) for providing actionable information to guide coronary revascularization in patients with stable or acute chest pain, whether with suspected or known CAD (Class 2a).
- Limiting Stress Tests: With a limited, diagnostic-only role, functional…
