Two large clinical trials were presented in the late-breaking clinical trials session at the American College of Cardiology's (ACC) 61st Annual Scientific Session this week that indicate coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) used as a tool to evaluate patients with chest pain in the emergency department is safe, time-efficient and cost-effective, compared to the current standard approach.

Coronary angiography is unable to accurately predict the severity of vessel narrowing, suggesting fractional flow reserve (FFR) functional tests should be added to help determine if a patient needs revascularization. This was according to research presented from the IRIS FFR-DEFER trial at the American College of Cardiology's (ACC) 61st Annual Scientific Session this week in Chicago.

March 27, 2012 – Researchers found the antiplatelet drug abciximab significantly decreased damage to the heart muscle in patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the most severe type of heart attack. Results of INFUSE-AMI trial were presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 61st Annual Scientific Session and published simultaneously in the March 25 online issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers also found that clot aspiration did not significantly reduce the damage to the heart muscle.