Risks and benefits of cardiac imaging: an analysis of risks related to imaging for coronary artery disease

Abstract

The potential risks associated with cardiovascular imaging (CVI) have recently been debated, partly triggered by the rapid increase in the use of imaging procedures and new imaging modalities such as cardiac computed tomography (CT).1,2 The discussion has mainly focused only on a single-risk aspect such as radiation.3 However, the various procedures have several risks: stressors, contrast agents, invasiveness, radiation, etc. Even more important, the test must be related to the benefit of performing or not performing the test with the risk and drawbacks associated with the disease remaining undetected. We aimed to create a balanced analysis of immediate, short- and long-term risks associated with CVI in relation to the natural course of coronary artery disease (CAD) and to therapeutic interventions. The imaging tests for CAD were selected, since many CVI tests are commonly used. We analysed: (i) the risk of major cardiac events (MCEs) for each component of imaging test; (ii) the upper limit for each risk, in order to avoid underestimation of a risk; (iii) composite risks calculated for selected common diagnostic tests for CAD; (iv) the risks compared with the risk of the disease itself, to assess the potential benefits of tests; and (v) comparison with risks in regular life activities and that associated with trivial long-term prophylactic interventions such as aspirin use. This analysis is based on the data available from the literature. Data for risks related to some of the procedures are quite limited, for some variable, and for some of limited quality. Still we sought to present risk estimations from all the procedures using reliable studies and databases available from an extensive search of the literature. The detailed information about risk assessments is shown in Supplementary material. ### Definitions In the literature, risks are described in many different ways, e.g. ‘fatal, major, …