NHS England-funded CT fractional flow reserve in the era of the ISCHEMIA trial.

BACKGROUND: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 2016 guidelines (CG95) recommend patients with new stable chest pain be investigated with computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA). An updated guideline (MTG32) recommended using CT fractional flow reserve (CTFFR) as a gatekeeper to invasive coronary angiography (ICA) for patients with coronary stenosis on CTCA. Subsequently, NHS England negotiated a UK-wide contract with HeartFlow, the provider of CTFFR. We describe our experience with CTFFR and consider the impact of the recent ISCHEMIA trial on these guidelines. METHODS: We prospectively collected ICA and revascularisation data on all patients undergoing CTFFR from January 2019 to March 2020. RESULTS: One-hundred and twenty-five of 140 patients completed CTFFR analysis. Eighty-one patients had CTCA stenosis >50%. Thirty-six had positive CTFFR; 29 underwent ICA with 22 (75.9%) revascularised. Forty-five had negative CTFFR; 14 underwent ICA and four (28.6%) were revascularised. The average cost of investigation per patient (PP) was £971.95. Had these patients undergone ICA directly with no functional test after CTCA, the average cost would be £932.51 PP. CONCLUSION: Our revascularisation rates suggest that CTFFR can potentially be a gatekeeper to ICA but does not necessarily yield cost savings.

Computed tomography coronary angiography: Diagnostic yield and downstream testing.

BACKGROUND: The UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) updated its guidelines on stable chest pain in 2016 and recommended computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) as first line investigation for all patients with new onset symptoms. We implemented the guideline and audited downstream testing. METHODS: We undertook a retrospective search of the local radiology database from January 2017 to May 2018. RESULTS: Six-hundred and fifty-two patients underwent CTCA (mean age of 55 years, 330 were male). Thirty-four patients were found to have severe coronary artery disease (CAD), with 30 undergoing invasive coronary angiography (ICA) which confirmed severe CAD in 22, a yield of 73%.Fifty-eight patients were found to have moderate CAD on CTCA with 36 referred for ICA, of which, 33 attended and 18 were found to have severe CAD. Eighteen were referred for imaging stress tests and one was positive. The total yield of severe CAD at ICA was 55%. The majority of patients had normal coronary arteries. CONCLUSIONS: CTCA was an effective rule-out test for most patients. In patients that went on to have ICA, the overall yield of severe CAD was relatively high. This compares well with our previous audit applying the NICE 2010 guidelines which recommended ICA for all high probability patients wherein the yield of severe CAD was 30%.

Routine preoperative brain CT in resectable non-small cell lung cancer - Ten years experience from a tertiary UK thoracic center.

OBJECTIVES: Although detection of brain metastasis can change treatment intent in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), head imaging is not routinely performed during initial staging. In our previous study, 4.8% of patients considered for surgical treatment had asymptomatic synchronous brain metastases, encouraging us to include contrast-enhanced head CT (CE-CT) in our routine staging protocol. We present results from a large cohort of potentially resectable NSCLC patients imaged irrespective of the presence of neurological symptoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with newly diagnosed NSCLC were identified from Royal Papworth Hospital registries. Data regarding the clinical stage (7th edition TNM), neurological symptoms and imaging findings were retrieved from clinical records. RESULTS: 1074 NSCLC patients considered potentially resectable based on the initial staging CT of the chest and abdomen (stage IA-IIIB) were included. Synchronous brain metastases were detected by CE-CT in 23 patients (2.1%); the rate of positive findings increased with stage, ranging from 0.7% (IA) to 2.6% (IIIA) (p = 0.023). The majority of metastases were asymptomatic (19 of 23, 82.6%). Asymptomatic brain lesions were smaller than symptomatic (13.3 ±â€¯4.8 vs 24.8 ±â€¯8.2 mm; p < 0.01); in both groups, the most frequent location was frontal lobe. CONCLUSION: Routine CE-CT detected synchronous brain metastases in approximately 2% of NSCLC patients eligible for radical surgical treatment. The majority of the metastatic lesions were asymptomatic. With the exception of stage IA in which the detection rate is very low, CE-CT could therefore be useful in routine NSCLC staging.

Prevalence of Subclinical Coronary Artery Disease in Masters Endurance Athletes With a Low Atherosclerotic Risk Profile.

BACKGROUND: Studies in middle-age and older (masters) athletes with atherosclerotic risk factors for coronary artery disease report higher coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores compared with sedentary individuals. Few studies have assessed the prevalence of coronary artery disease in masters athletes with a low atherosclerotic risk profile. METHODS: We assessed 152 masters athletes 54.4±8.5 years of age (70% male) and 92 controls of similar age, sex, and low Framingham 10-year coronary artery disease risk scores with an echocardiogram, exercise stress test, computerized tomographic coronary angiogram, and cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging with late gadolinium enhancement and a 24-hour Holter. Athletes had participated in endurance exercise for an average of 31±12.6 years. The majority (77%) were runners, with a median of 13 marathon runs per athlete. RESULTS: Most athletes (60%) and controls (63%) had a normal CAC score. Male athletes had a higher prevalence of atherosclerotic plaques of any luminal irregularity (44.3% versus 22.2%; P=0.009) compared with sedentary males, and only male athletes showed a CAC ≥300 Agatston units (11.3%) and a luminal stenosis ≥50% (7.5%). Male athletes demonstrated predominantly calcific plaques (72.7%), whereas sedentary males showed predominantly mixed morphology plaques (61.5%). The number of years of training was the only independent variable associated with increased risk of CAC >70th percentile for age or luminal stenosis ≥50% in male athletes (odds ratio, 1.08; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.15; P=0.016); 15 (14%) male athletes but none of the controls revealed late gadolinium enhancement on cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging. Of these athletes, 7 had a pattern consistent with previous myocardial infarction, including 3(42%) with a luminal stenosis ≥50% in the corresponding artery. CONCLUSIONS: Most lifelong masters endurance athletes with a low atherosclerotic risk profile have normal CAC scores. Male athletes are more likely to have a CAC score >300 Agatston units or coronary plaques compared with sedentary males with a similar risk profile. The significance of these observations is uncertain, but the predominantly calcific morphology of the plaques in athletes indicates potentially different pathophysiological mechanisms for plaque formation in athletic versus sedentary men. Coronary plaques are more abundant in athletes, whereas their stable nature could mitigate the risk of plaque rupture and acute myocardial infarction.

Cardiothoracic manifestations of neuroendocrine tumours.

Cardiothoracic neuroendocrine tumour (NET) manifestations encompass a vast disease spectrum. Pulmonary neuroendocrine tumours represent a range of tumour grade and differentiation characteristics from pre-malignant diffuse neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia, well-differentiated, low-grade carcinoid tumours with excellent outcomes, through to high-grade small-cell lung carcinoma and large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma with poor prognoses. Rarer thymic NETs represent a similarly wide neoplastic spectrum. Cardiac carcinoid is a paraneoplastic manifestation of the carcinoid syndrome and often the cause of mortality in NETs with hepatic metastases. Cardiothoracic NET manifestations are reviewed herein from a radiologists' perspective, discussing the diverse clinical presentations, spectrum of neoplastic and paraneoplastic manifestations, imaging features and treatment options.

Evolution of CT pulmonary angiography: referral patterns and diagnostic yield in 2009 compared with 2006.

BACKGROUND: CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) is an increasingly popular imaging test for assessing patients with acute chest pain. PURPOSE: To evaluate the number of CTPA performed in 2009 compared with 2006 and assess the frequency of pulmonary embolus (PE) versus alternative diagnoses. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Numbers of CTPA and V/Q scans performed in a six-month period of 2006 and 2009 were established by review of the hospital radiology information system. CTPAs were evaluated by two radiologists in consensus and the incidence of pulmonary embolism and alternative diagnoses in 2006 and 2009 were recorded. RESULTS: The final study groups were 99 patients who underwent CTPA in 2006 and 149 patients in 2009. There was a significant fall in the incidence of PE identified on CTPA in 2009 compared to 2006 (11% versus 21%, P = 0.04). There was a non-significant rise in the incidence of alternative diagnoses in 2009 compared to 2006 (45% versus 40%, P = 0.48). Nine types of alternative radiological diagnoses were made on CTPA, the most common of which was pneumonia in both time periods (17% and 12%). Eighty-seven V/Q scans were performed in the study period in 2006, compared to 109 in 2009. The incidence of PE identified on V/Q scanning remained stable (8% in 2009 versus 12% in 2006, P = 0.44). CONCLUSION: The numbers of CTPAs being performed has increased in three years. The incidence of PE identified has fallen and there has been a modest increase in the number of alternative diagnoses.