‘Triple-rule-out’ CT angiography for clinical decision making and early triage of acute chest pain patients: use of 320-multislice CT angiography

Abstract

Background: In our study, we aimed to estimate utility of TRO CTA to guide clinical decision in acute chest pain patients with intermediate risk to acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in the emergency department. Methods and material: Our study population included 45 acute chest pain patients with intermediate-risk ACS. All these patients had done TRO CTA to access any pathological conditions in the coronary artery, pulmonary artery, aorta and thoracic diseases that may be the cause of their complaint. Follow-up was done in all patients for 60 days. Results: Among the 45 patients, we were able to discharge 44.4% (20 out of 45) of our population safely to home with no need for further diagnostic cardiac testing. The rest of the patients were classified into significant coronary artery disease 40% (18 out of 45), 8.8% (4 out of 45) had acute aortic lesions and 6.6% (3 out 45) had pulmonary artery embolization. Conclusions: Triple Role Out CT angiography (TRO CTA) is not only an effective protocol for exclusion of ACS with high specificity compared to dedicated coronary CTA but also in the diagnosis of acute chest pain due to other vascular and non-vascular causes helping decision-making strategy for admission in the emergency department.