Stress Echocardiography vs Exercise ECG in women with chest pain
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Role of Contemporary Stress Echocardiography Techniques in the Initial Assessment of Women with No Previous History of Coronary Artery Disease who present with Chest Pain of Recent Onset. Stress Echocardiography vs Exercise ECG as First Line Investigation in this Population. Potential for higher diagnostic accuracy cost saving.
IRAS ID
157217
Contact name
Sothinathan Gurunathan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
London North West Healthcare NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The initial investigation of choice in women with no previous history of coronary artery disease who present with suspected cardiac chest pain of recent onset is controversial. At present, most of these patients are seen in Rapid
Access Chest Pain Clinics and are offered an Exercise ECG (exercise treadmill test).
In our local practice, we have a great amount of experience with the technique of Stress Echocardiography and have found it to be a more accurate and feasible test. A retrospective analysis of our practice has also suggested that use of
Stress Echo as first line may also result in significant cost benefits. However the analysis is limited by its retrospective nature. No previous prospective studies have been performed comparing the two techniques in women. We would therefore like to perform a prospective randomised study comparing the use of Stress Echo and Exercise ECG in women in our Rapid Access Chest Pain Clinic population to assess whether widespread use of Stress Echo may indeed provide a more accurate diagnosis and may lead to reduced diagnostic costs.REC name
London - City & East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/1736
Date of REC Opinion
2 Jan 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion