A 10-year trial found that the number of non-fatal heart attacks in the group who had a 3D imaging test of their heart, known as a coronary computed tomography angiogram (CCTA), was 28 per cent lower compared to those who had standard tests.
Applied across the UK population and the current rate of CCTA use, experts estimate that this equates to 6,000 heart attacks avoided over the past ten years.
University of Edinburgh researchers who led the study say this is likely due to more people in the CCTA group being prescribed preventative medicines as a result of the test.
Major killer
There are 2.3 million people in the UK living with coronary heart disease, which is caused by narrowing and blockages in the arteries that supply the heart with blood. If left untreated, coronary heart disease can lead to a heart attack.
It was the second biggest killer in the UK in 2023, responsible for around 66,000 deaths – one every eight minutes.
Positive results
The study was a 10-year follow up of the initial SCOT-HEART trial, which provided evidence that led to the UK updating its guidelines in 2016 to recommended CCTA scans as one of the first tests for someone experiencing new chest pain.
The decade-long study involved more than 4,100 people across Scotland with suspected angina – chest pain due to reduced blood flow to the heart muscle – who had been referred to a chest pain clinic.
Half had a CCTA scan – a non-invasive, 3D imaging test that helps determine if a heart’s arteries are narrowed or blocked – plus standard tests, and half received standard tests only.
Early results showed that people who had CCTA scans were more likely to undergo additional procedures in the first year after their scan.
By five years the number of procedures had evened out between the groups, but the CCTA group were less likely to have had a heart attack and more likely to be taking preventative drugs.
At 10 years, 56 per cent of the CCTA group were taking medicines, including aspirin and statins, to reduce their risk of a heart attack compared to 49 per cent in the standard tests group.