New test better at diagnosing chest pain

BOSTON, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- A new test is more cost-effective than current methods used to diagnose women at low risk of a heart attack who report chest pain, U.S. researchers say.

Researchers at Harvard University reviewed costs and health effects of performing the new non-invasive coronary CT angiography and the invasive coronary angiography -- which uses a plastic tube via an arm or leg to check the heart.

"The standard of care is to get a few sets of cardiac enzymes on these patients and to perform a stress test," lead author Dr. Joseph Ladapo said in a statement. "If either is positive, the patient may be considered for cardiac catheterization -- used to check blood flow in the coronary arteries.

The study, published in the American Journal of Roentgenology, found coronary CT angiography was $410 less in emergency department and hospital costs than the standard of care to triage a 55-year-old woman and total healthcare costs decreased by $380.

"At nearly every age level, women are less likely to have coronary artery disease than men; they are more likely to be found to have normal coronaries on cardiac CT, and therefore more likely to be discharged," Ladapo said. "Since they are discharged, costs go down," Ladapo said.