ABSTRACT

Objective: To analyze the appropriateness of Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) referrals by cardiologists in selected tertiary care hospital of Oman. Methods: In this study 220 patient’s records were randomly selected for retrospective study of records of all eligible cases referred for coronary computed tomography angiography at Sur Hospital in Oman from May 1st, 2013 to December 31st, 2016. Results: In total 220 patients screened out of which 175 were included in the study. The majority of CCTA referrals were made for "Detection of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)” in suspected ischemia equivalent in 50.9% (n=89). The population's average age was 57.3 years, and 61.1% of the population (n=107) were male. Followed by detection of CAD in asymptomatic patients 21.1% (n=37). There were no patients referred to CCTA for the indication of “Evaluation of cardiac structure and function”. It was found that 40% (n=70) of our Cardiologists referrals for CCTA were within the “uncertain” category, while 36.6% (n=64) were in the “appropriate” and 23.4% (n=41) were in the “inappropriate” category. Conclusions: This study demonstrates a relatively inappropriate use of CCTA at Sur Hospital in Oman. Installing a written protocol for CCTA referrals with line of the current guidelines is recommended to improve quality and avoid the inappropriate requests and abuse of the CCTA modality. We recommend that there is a requirement of a local policy for these situations until there is agreement on the "uncertain" signals in the guidelines, which is necessary to expand our understanding of the appropriateness of CCTA referrals. Keywords: Patient Referrals, Coronary computed tomography angiography, Coronary artery disease, Sur Hospital, Oman, American College of Cardiology Foundation
Publication date: 15/06/2023

https://ijbpas.com/pdf/2023/June/MS_IJBPAS_2023_JUNE_SPCL_1006.pdf

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https://doi.org/10.31032/IJBPAS/2023/12.6.1006