title: The cost-effectiveness of diagnostic cardiac imaging for stable coronary artery disease.
abstract: Early and accurate diagnosis of stable coronary artery disease (CAD) is crucial to reduce morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs. This critical appraisal of health-economic literature concerning non-invasive diagnostic cardiac imaging aims to summarize current approaches to economic evaluation of diagnostic cardiac imaging and associated procedural risks, inform cardiologists how to use economic analyses for decision-making, highlight areas where new information could strengthen the economic evaluation and shed light on cost-effective approaches to diagnose stable CAD. Economic analysis can support cardiologists' decision-making. Current economic evidence in the field does not provide sufficient information to guide the choice among different imaging modalities or strategies for each patient. Available economic analyses suggest that computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) is a cost-effective approach to rule out CAD prior to invasive coronary angiography in patients with low to intermediate pre-test probability of disease and that stress imaging modalities may be cost-effective at variable pre-test probabilities.
authors.affiliation: Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Turchetti
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kroes
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lorenzoni
authors.forename: Leopoldo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Trieste
authors.forename: Ann-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Alison C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Sweet
authors.forename: Geoff I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Danilo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Neglia
mesh_terms: D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000191:economics; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*
keywords: coronary heart disease; diagnostic cardiac imaging; economic analysis; procedural risk; systematic review