Coronary CTA for Preoperative Risk Assessment in Noncardiac Surgery

Risk assessment for ischemic cardiac complications post noncardiac surgery is not an exact science. This often prompts physicians to order investigations for further risk stratification. As a diagnostic text coronary CT angiography (CCTA)* could prove to be a useful adjunct in preoperative risk assessment and its utility in this setting will be considered. CCTA has been used to assess preoperative risk in several clinical studies, including the recent CTA VISION trial. CTA VISION suggested, in the cohort examined, that CCTA could lead to an exaggeration of preoperative risk. Whether this is true in other populations will be considered. In this review, the results from CTA VISION and the recently published Canadian Cardiovascular Society guidelines will be considered in the context of previous literature and current international guidelines.