16 Nov 21. ESCR Best Abstract award

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Dr Justin Chiong graduated from the University of Edinburgh Medical School & is a Foundation Doctor currently based in Dundee, Scotland. His interests lie in Cardiology & Cardiac Imaging.

The work presented by Justin at the European Society of Cardiovascular Radiology Congress, entitled "Radiation exposure for patients with stable chest in the SCOT-HEART study", received the best abstract award at the Congress.

SCOT-HEART was a randomised controlled trial which demonstrated that patients with stable chest pain, when managed with computed tomography-coronary angiography (CTCA) had improved outcomes at 5 years. What the team did not yet know however, was exactly how much radiation these patients received during this time, & how this compared to patients who did not undergo CTCA, managed with standard care alone.

Justin explains: We retrospectively analysed 2894 patients from the SCOT-HEART study & obtained information on radiation dose exposure over a 5-year period.

From this, we were able to see that:

1. Radiation dose from CTCA (5.7 mSv) was low compared to other cardiac imaging modalities (Invasive coronary angiography [6.1 mSv] & SPECT [8.8 mSv])
2. Cumulatively over a 5-year period, both the CTCA (4.5 [3.0 to 8.3] mSv) & Standard Care (0.0 [0.0 to 6.6] mSv) groups received low amounts of radiation.
3. When we looked only at patients who underwent imaging - cumulative radiation dose at 5 years was lower in the CTCA group (4.8 [3.3 to 9.1] mSv) compared to the control group (8.6 [5.1 to 11.6] mSv) (p<0.001). 

We asked Justin his thoughts regarding receiving the award.

“I am delighted to receive this award for our work on SCOT-HEART & radiation doses. I am grateful to Dr Michelle Williams for her guidance & all co-authors from the SCOT-HEART team, who's collaborative efforts have made this success possible.

Our research reaffirms that a diagnostic strategy based on CT is a valuable option for patients presenting with chest pain.”

Justin’s abstract, "Radiation exposure for patients with stable chest in the SCOT-HEART study", is number 0031 & can be found here.