Role of multidetector computed tomography in the diagnosis and management of patients attending the rapid access chest pain clinic The Scottish computed tomography of the heart (SCOT-HEART) trial: study protocol for randomized controlled trial

摘要

BackgroundRapid access chest pain clinics have facilitated the early diagnosis and treatment of patients with coronary heart disease and angina. Despite this important service provision, coronary heart disease continues to be under-diagnosed and many patients are left untreated and at risk. Recent advances in imaging technology have now led to the widespread use of noninvasive computed tomography, which can be used to measure coronary artery calcium scores and perform coronary angiography in one examination. However, this technology has not been robustly evaluated in its application to the clinic.