About the Trial

TARGET-CTCA is a non-commercial trial sponsored by a partnership of the University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian called ACCORD and funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

Why are we doing this trial?

Most patients who come to hospital with symptoms of a heart attack are sent home without further tests once a heart attack has been ruled out.  Current strategies to assess patients with a suspected heart attack involve blood tests to measure troponin, a protein released into the bloodstream when the heart muscle is damaged.

Despite having had a heart attack ruled-out, some patients have unrecognised heart disease and are at risk of having a heart attack in the future. However, we do not know what is the best approach to identify and treat these patients.

This trial will use a heart scan known as computed tomography coronary angiogram (CTCA) to look for unrecognised heart disease in patients who have had a heart attack ruled out. In an earlier study, we performed this scan in patients referred to the outpatient cardiology clinic with stable chest pain and found that this improved the diagnosis of heart disease, leading to improvement in patient care that can prevent future heart attacks.

Our research has also found that troponin levels below those used to diagnose a heart attack identify those who are at greater risk of having a heart attack in the future.

The aim of this study is to find out if patients with these low levels of troponin, where a heart attack has been ruled out, will benefit from CTCA to look for unrecognised coronary heart disease.