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Non-Invasive Blood Flow Measurements Reduce Invasive Tests in Chest Pain Patients

LONDON, UK– According to results of the PLATFORM (Prospective LongitudinAl Trial of FFRCT: Outcome and Resource Impacts) trial, a test known as FFRCT  can obviate the need for invasive tests in up to 61% of patients who have chest pain and suspected coronary artery disease.

Coronary Artery Disease, Acute Coronary Syndromes, Acute Cardiac Care


EMBARGO : 1 September 2015 at 09:00 BST

FFRCT estimates fractional flow reserve (FFR) - a measure of blood flow and pressure in the coronary artery – using images from computed tomographic angiography (CTA).

The Hot Line results were presented today at ESC Congress 2015 (possible simultaneous publication in European Heart Journal).


“This approach significantly reduced the need for unnecessary invasive coronary angiography (ICA) which, although it is the gold standard for investigating chest pain, comes with the risk and costs of an invasive procedure,” said lead investigator Pamela Douglas, MD, the Ursula Geller Professor at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, Duke University School of Medicine, in Durham, NC, USA.

“The message is that for stable chest pain patients in whom elective ICA is recommended, consideration should be given to performing this new test first.”

When used alone, CTA can identify an abnormal narrowing (stenosis) in the coronary arteries but it cannot quantify how much this actually obstructs blood flow. Therefore “many patients who have blockages that are not interfering with blood flow may end up undergoing ICAs that show no evidence of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) and could possibly have been avoided, “ explained Dr. Douglas.

Other commonly used non-invasive tests for CAD, such as myocardial perfusion stress imaging or stress echocardiography, may tell whether blood supply to the heart tissue is adequate but cannot determine whether a specific blockage is obstructing blood flow, she said.

The current standard for assessing the significance of coronary artery narrowing is conventional FFR, which is invasive, involving insertion of a wire into the coronary artery.

But by using computer simulations to calculate blood flow, non-invasive FFRCT  can give a comprehensive evaluation of a patient’s chest pain without the need for an invasive procedure.

The PLATFORM study included 584 chest pain patients (average age 60.9 years) from 11 test centres in Europe.
Patients were evaluated using either FFRCT  (n=297) or conventional testing (n=287) to see if FFRCT  could reduce the rate of ICAs that show no obstructive CAD.

Patients were divided into those in whom “usual care” would dictate a non-invasive investigation such as stress testing or conventional CTA (n=204) and those who would have proceeded straight to an invasive ICA (n=380).

In both groups patients were then allocated to receive either usual care (invasive or non-invasive) or FFRCT   - defined as CTA with the addition of FFR when appropriate.

Among patients already scheduled for an ICA, 73% of patients in the usual care group underwent ICA only to find no significant blockages, compared to 12% in the FFRCT  group. Furthermore, 61% of the patients in the FFRCT  group had the ICA cancelled based on the FFRCT  results.
While FFRCT reduced the number of patients who underwent an ICA that found no significant disease, there was no difference between the two groups in the rate of revascularisation procedures, such as stenting and coronary artery bypass surgery.

“The study shows that CTA plus FFRCT more effectively triages patients for invasive procedures than usual care strategies,” said Dr. Douglas.

“Although FFRCT is a relatively new technique, PLATFORM demonstrates that it is feasible and safe with high utility in busy clinical settings.”

FFRCT received CE Mark in 2010 and received US Food and Drug Administration clearance in November 2014.

-ENDS-

Notes to editor

SOURCES OF FUNDING : The study was supported by HeartFlow, Inc., Redwood City, CA, USA, which markets the FFR-CT software.
DISCLOSURES :
Dr. Douglas and several of her co-authors received grants from HeartFlow during the study

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About the European Society of Cardiology
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) represents more than 90 000 cardiology professionals across Europe and worldwide. Its mission is to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in Europe.
 
About ESC Congress 2015
ESC Congress is the world’s largest and most influential cardiovascular event contributing to global awareness of the latest clinical trials and breakthrough discoveries. ESC Congress 2015 takes place 29 August to 2 September at ExCel London in London, UK. Access the scientific programme. More information is available from the ESC Press Office at press@escardio.org.

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This press release accompanies both a presentation and an ESC press conference at the ESC Congress 2015. Edited by the ESC from material supplied by the investigators themselves, this press release does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Society of Cardiology. The content of the press release has been approved by the presenter.