According to a new study, patients suffering from chest pain who are showing negative cardiac computed tomography angiogram (CTA) will not develop adverse cardiac events for a year following their discharge from hospitals. Cardiac CTA represents a non-invasive imaging procedure that is used to detect the presence of calcium or fatty deposits in coronary vessels that provide blood to the cardiac muscles. The study took place at the University of  Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, WA.

The study involved 70 patients who had negative cardiac CTA results. The participating patients were asked about having adverse cardiac events, diagnostic examinations, or cardiac treatments after 3, 6, and 12 months following the CTA tests. William P. Shuman, MD, the lead author of the study, said "No patient reported any sign, symptom, finding or subsequent diagnosis suggestive of an adverse cardiac event, nor was there any such suggestion in the electronic medical record. For earlier discharge based, in part, on negative cardiac CTA results to be clinically efficacious, it must be a safe practice with few subsequent adverse cardiac events," Dr. Shuman concluded "Our study shows that for patients with low-to-moderate risk chest pain evaluated in the emergency department, adverse cardiac events may be rare during the year after a negative cardiac CTA scan," The study showed that early discharge of patients with both low and moderate risk for cardiac adverse events, following negative CTA results, would reduce the costs and time for emergency departments. Moreover, discharging such patients will decrease the load on these departments allowing them to provide improved services.